


Set Fire to the Rain

by dentedsky



Series: On Hiatus [1]
Category: DBSK|Tohoshinki|TVXQ
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Elemental Magic, Fantasy, Jealousy, M/M, Minor Character Death, Princes & Princesses, Protectiveness, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2017-12-13 13:24:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentedsky/pseuds/dentedsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where royalty inherits the elemental power of the gods, Prince Changmin must take on a new dark knight for his personal protection.  From his peacekeeping mission in the north, Yunho is taken to fill that role.  Thinking he would get to protect the kind, shy prince he’d met ten years before, he reaches the capital only to find himself having to protect a prince more spoilt and spiteful than sweet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First

Yunho closed his eyes.

He felt the hot wind ruffle his thin shirt. It blew over his cheek like a heavy, heated kiss as he stretched his arm out, sword in hand and pointed. With his sister’s eyes on him, Yunho concentrated, eyes half-opening to slits.

From hilt to point the blade burst into flame.

For a moment he kept absolutely still. Then, he tilted his chin up and look Jihye in the eyes. “Now,” he said, “it’s your turn.”

With a little less grace, Jihye flicked her wrist, and the sword in her hand burst into flame so suddenly she fumbled and almost dropped it. Laughing, Yunho embedded his own sword into the dirt to free his hands for clapping. “Well done!” They both looked at each other across the sandy clearing and laughed.

In the desert bushes behind him, something stirred. Quick as a flash Yunho picked up his sword and turned, branding it –

Chanyeol, their young cousin, poked his head out from behind a dead tree. “I’m – I’m sorry, Yunho-hyung...”

Yunho relaxed his stance, resting sword against his battle shoulder brace, flames long gone. “You don’t need to spy; you can join in if you want.”

Chanyeol came into the clearing proper. “It’s not that. But, your father the Chieftain is asking after you.” He looked behind Yunho to Jihye. “Both of you. You have a visitor.”

* * *

Towards the centre of the Southern continent, tucked away between the great desert to the east and the plains and forests of Misra to the west and north, sat Hamsa, a dry, mountainous area. On the high slope overlooking its main village was the chieftain’s house.

Yunho and Jihye knocked and entered. Inside the wooden house their mother was cooking over the fire, and their father sat cross-legged at the table with their two guests: a man and a young boy. Yunho and his sister bowed low in greeting.

Although Yunho’s father was the head of Hamsa as well as his household, he allowed the other man to take the head of the table. “Come sit with us,” Yunho’s father, Yonghwa, instructed to Yunho. Behind him, their mother took Jihye’s arm to drag her to the cooking fires. Yunho sat cross-legged and straight-backed next to the young boy.

Although dinner had yet to be served by the women, the men had already started drinking. “What did I tell you,” Yonghwa said to the guest, as if continuing a long conversation, “he has come of age well, keeps our borders free from bandits. Strong, good blood.”

“There’s no denying,” said the man at the head gruffly.

“Yunho,” said Yonghwa, “this is King Dongsik of Misra; _your_ king.”

Yunho looked at his king with wide eyes, then pushed himself bodily from the table, got himself closer to the floor by bowing very, very low. “Your Majesty! I am honoured to meet you, and – “ Yunho peeked at the young boy through his fringe, “- and I am also honoured to meet your son, Prince Changmin, if I’m not mistaken?”

The king made a small gesture and Yunho scrambled back into his previous position, now more conscious of his guests than ever. The king looked satisfied by Yunho’s show of reverence, while the young prince - no older than eleven by Yunho’s quick calculations – was a youthful beauty, whose wide, unblinking eyes had not left Yunho the moment he had walked in.

“Indeed this is Prince Changmin,” said King Dongsik, “who will no doubt be your king one day, when you are chieftain of Hamsa.” The king smiled kindly at both of them. “I hope from now on you can both enjoy a long and prosperous friendship.”

Yunho looked down at the little prince and smiled. Prince Changmin’s eyes were wide and brown like a doe’s, his nose large. His mouth twisted restlessly as if he wanted to smile or say something to Yunho. After a moment of silence, Yunho’s smile was reciprocated shyly.

“I was just saying to your father,” the king went on, “about how sorry I am to impede on you and your family like this without warning.”

“Not at all,” Chieftain Yonghwa reassured. “You are welcome any time.”

“We hadn’t meant to come so far south,” said the king, “but we were intercepted by a band of men dressed in black on our way to Pome.”

“Do you know who they are?” Yonghwa asked.

“By the cut of the cloth, my guess would be warriors of the Para Isles.”

Yonghwa looked alarmed. “I was under the impression the Mandarins did not control the Para Isles, that the citizens wished for independence.”

King Dongsik’s mouth was a flat line, and his eyes were hard. “The northernmost isle is renowned for its warriors. They are most likely under contract from a king in the north.”

 

*

“Do you want to see something magical?” Yunho whispered. He was kneeling next to Changmin, who was snuggled up in Yunho’s blankets, on his bed roll. The candle light flickered shadows over the wooden walls.

Changmin’s fingers curled over the edge of the blanket. His mouth twisted. He nodded. Yunho held out his hand, palm up, and summoned fire with a thought. From the small flames the image of a phoenix rose and flapped its wings. Yunho grinned widely at Changmin.

Changmin looked unimpressed.

Yunho deflated, curling his fingers into this palm to put out the fire. He raised his eyebrows at Changmin. “So you think you can do better?”

Changmin scrambled up to a seating position. They were in the loft, close to the roof where the heat can get trapped during cold desert nights. Both Yunho and Changmin looked over the edge at their fathers, still at the dining table, deep in murmured conversation. Yunho tilted his head to the side at Changmin.

The prince pressed his lips together and spread his hands, palms facing one another. Then, as quick as a blink, a small wave of water leapt from one palm to the other.

Changmin grinned up at Yunho, sudden and bright, eyes shining and triumphant, his little teeth glinting in the candle light. Yunho chuckled softly, tongue going to the corner of his mouth. Although Yunho secretly thought it was a pretty basic trick for an elemental, he nodded in satisfaction and said, “Well done.”

Prince Changmin smiled proudly.

Yunho put his hand on Changmin’s gently, for a brief second. Then he pulled away and made to climb down the ladder. “Sweet dreams, my prince,” Yunho said to Changmin.

“Goodnight,” Changmin whispered, hands clasped together.

 

*

The small, whisper-like defence mechanism inside Yunho switched itself on, and he woke up.

With royalty staying in the house, he and Jihye were sleeping in the barn with the dogs and the horses, the combined body heat keeping them warm in the enclosed space. Yunho sat up abruptly and pricked his ears. There was silence – too much silence. And then he heard the almost imperceptible sound of human movement outside.

Slowly and surely, Yunho moved towards his sister, and put a hand over her mouth. She woke up abruptly, and with wide eyes, looked at Yunho, who gave her the signal to be quiet.

He slowly pulled away and stood up.

With the possibility of the enemy so close, it would be foolish to go out the front barn door. Yunho looked up at the roof, and the high barn windows that lined it. He started to climb the ladder. Jihye grabbed his pant leg. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her lips pressed into a line, and shook her head rapidly.

Yunho, resolute, glared at her until she let go, and he climbed the ladder. He knew that his sister, prone to compete with Yunho in almost everything, would follow shortly after deliberating her options.

At the top, Yunho peered through the window at the darkness outside below. It was the middle of the night, dawn not close. Figures in black moved over Yunho’s house just next door, as light and as swift as shadows. So King Dongsik had been right – only warriors of Para Isles had such ancient knowledge and power of movement – but of what Yunho had been taught about the Para Isles people, they did not train for war, but for protection, and they were a peaceful people. For them to be this far south and taking such a huge risk there must have been something they really, really wanted.

Slowly and carefully Yunho pushed himself out the small window and sat on its sill. He only had one chance, and if he got it wrong he would put his king and prince in danger.

Stepping onto the sill with both feet, he crouched – then jumped.

He landed on the roof of his house, not as gracefully as he would have liked, but it was soundless. Swift in the dark he approached one Para ninja on the roof with him and punched him in the jaw. The ninja took it in stride and countered, but Yunho grabbed the attacking arm and knocked the long dagger from the assailant’s grip. Yunho, new weapon in hand, kicked the man off the roof. He landed on his back on the ground below without a scream, unmoving. Another caught him almost be suprise but his silent approach, and Yunho threw the dagger into the enemy's chest.

Another climbed over the roof and ran at him, but Yunho dodged and managed to grab his head and smash it into the roof, the wood eroded by years of wind and sand splintering under the ninja’s face and Yunho’s effort. Yunho threw the body over the edge, then looked down into the hole in the roof he had made.

Blankets clutched to his chest, Prince Changmin’s wide eyes stared up through the hole at Yunho in fright.

Yunho kicked at the hole to make it larger, then kneeled over the hole and put his arm through, holding his hand out for Changmin to take. “Come with me,” Yunho whispered loudly. “Please, my prince, you can trust me.”

Mouth wobbling, Changmin nodded slowly, and stood up, blanket still clutched in one little fist. With his other hand he reached up to Yunho and Yunho grabbed it, hard, then with great effort, biceps clenched, he pulled the eleven year old boy up through the hole.

Then Changmin was in Yunho’s arms. Two ninjas had run up the side of the house and were coming over the edge; Yunho ran in the opposite direction, over the roof and towards the mountains. Changmin held tight in his arms, Yunho jumped off the roof and landed, knees bent, falling into a quick body roll. Then he took off into the bushes and headed for the trees, running as fast as he could in the dark, and with the prince in his grip.

Luckily, Yunho knew these woods like the back of his hand and could navigate it in darkness or light. It would be easier to carry the prince on his back, but he knew the enemy most likely had throwing stars, and it was important the future king of the Southern Continent live.

Yunho pumped his legs until burning, until he could not feel the pain of his muscles screaming at him. Now far from bushland and deep in the forest, Yunho kept on, changing direction slightly as he went hoping that the men running after him would lose them eventually. He knew they were after him and the prince, though he dare not look behind him to check in case he slowed. He hoped there were no elementals among the pursuers.

Yunho knew there to be a cliff-like burrow before the land dipped into a small valley. He jumped, then doubled back, going to his knees and depositing Changmin under the ledge of earth, then crawling in after him and curling himself tight to Changmin’s body. Changmin whimpered.

There was no room to move, else Yunho would have given him a sign to be quiet, or to calm down. All he could see in the darkness, surrounded by sandy earth, was the whites of Changmin's eyes. Yunho could feel Changmin’s anxiety and fear in the way he shook.

Above them, the ninjas ran over them, their footfalls swift and quiet but not entirely silent. Each warrior leaped off and over Yunho and Changmin’s hiding space, causing some sand to sprinkle onto them. Yunho and Changmin closed their eyes against it. The ninjas sped on, not realising that their target was now well behind them...

Yunho knew the night would only get colder, even in their tight hiding space. Arid country was often below freezing at night. Yunho cuddled as close to Changmin as possible, giving as much heat to the boy with his body as he could. He hoped there would be enough air for them to breathe.

Yunho prepared himself for several hours of wait. Eventually Changmin fell asleep, curled up in Yunho’s embrace.

 

*

Morning’s light crept upon them, and Yunho awoke from his half-sleep. Panic setting in, he took a hold of Changmin’s small shoulder and gave it a shake –

Changmin awoke abruptly and punched Yunho in the chest.

Eyes wide on Yunho’s, Changmin pressed his lips together. The space was too small for Changmin to have damaged Yunho with something like a punch, but regardless Changmin seemed apologetic.

“I think we can go – “ whispered Yunho, before cutting himself off as the sound of horse hooves sounded above them. A horse stopped, stamped its foot, and snorted.

“Yunho,” called his father.

Yunho scrambled from his hiding place and stood and stared up at his father. Behind Chieftain Yonghwa King Dongsik sat on a horse of his own, the hard stare of his small eyes not quite hiding the anxiousness held tightly within. Yunho ducked under the crag yet again, grabbed Changmin’s hand and pulled him out. “Your father is here,” Yunho told Changmin to dissipate any reluctance he might have.

Changmin scrambled out, then Yunho, with hands under his armpits, helped Changmin climb over the hill and into his father’s awaiting arms, as he was pulled onto the horse.

Yonghwa got down from his own horse. “Please, Prince Changmin, take this stallion; with two horses you can ride faster.”

The king regarded his friend fondly. “You have already done so much for us – and now you give us these gifts?”

Yonghwa bowed. “The enemy may still be lingering around the border. Take both stallions so that you may be swift.”

King Dongsik nodded and looked at Yunho. Yunho lowered his gaze. “Thank you, Jung Yunho, for saving my son. This will not be forgotten.” To Changmin, he said, “Hop down and take the horse.”

Changmin did, sliding off the saddle. Yunho helped him onto Yonghwa’s steed, and as Changmin slid onto the saddle and took the reins with one hand, he held onto Yunho’s hand tightly. He looked down into Yunho’s eyes.

Yunho gave him a brave smile. “Goodbye my prince,” he said.

Changmin shook his head, eyes bright.

“We shall see each other again, someday,” Yunho promised. Changmin squeezed his hand tightly, as if he didn’t want to let go.

The king turned his horse. “Come Changmin, it’s time we went on.”

Yunho patted Changmin’s small, soft hand, and made him let go.

The king and prince rode off into the morning. Yunho watched them leave.


	2. First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world where royalty inherits the elemental power of the gods, Prince Changmin must take on a new dark knight for his personal protection. From his peacekeeping mission in the north, Yunho is taken to fill that role. Thinking he would get to protect the kind, shy prince he’d met ten years before, he reaches the capital only to find himself having to protect a prince more spoilt and spiteful than sweet.

Ten years later.

Yunho and Kyuhyun, his next in command, approached the temple warily, but with heads held high. Priests and priestesses bowed to them, hands pressed together in prayer-like greeting as they walked down the walkway to the large temple doors. The sun was high and the breeze brought in the fresh scent of the surrounding forest. They’d had to lay down their weapons at the garden gate, and Yunho itched to hold his sword, feeling vulnerable without it.

Yunho and his men were residing in the centre-most island of the Para Isles. It had been said that the head priest and his offspring were elementals with the power of telekinesis, something of which Yunho had yet to see. The citizens of the Para Isles believed only in peace, yet they sat between the Northern and Southern continents, which meant the islands could become literal war ground between the two great powers. Yunho and his team of men had been sent by the Southern Empire to keep the peace.

The doors were thrown wide for them, and Yunho and Kyuhyun entered the long hall lit by candles on either side. At the end of their walk, the main priest sat like a king on his throne. Sitting on the dais beside him was a young man about the age of twenty.

The young man stood as they approached. He spoke to the high priest in their native tongue.

Beside Yunho, Kyuhyun started.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Yunho asked lowly.

“I know Mandarin,” said Lieutenant Kyuhyun, “but they are speaking a dialect I don’t know.”

“Fear not!” interrupted the young man. “I am Luhan, one of High Priest Xi’s dictionaries. I will translate for you.” Luhan was a pretty thing, blonde haired and brown eyed, and small in stature. Although he seemed almost childlike, his eyes held a worldly intelligence. “Please state your names and your purpose here.”

Yunho bowed low. “I am Captain Jung Yunho of Misra’s Peace Keeping forces. And this is my lieutenant, Cho Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun bowed. “It is a pleasure to meet the renowned High Priest Xi.”

Luhan sat by the throne again, and the older Para priest, eyes calculative and sharp on Yunho, seemed to absent-mindedly reach down and caress Luhan’s hair as if he were petting a dog.

Yunho took it in, but explained, “We are here to ensure the peace between the Southern Continent and Para Isles.”

Priest Xi chuckled to himself and spoke.

Luhan translated, “You are welcome to camp out in the westernmost gardens, where the land is clear and soft. We will prepare a feast for you tonight to welcome you and your men, Captain Yunho, and then we will gift you a sleeping dictionary for the duration of your stay.”

Not knowing what a sleeping dictionary was, Yunho and Kyuhyun exchanged glances. Yunho said to the high priest, “Thank you very much for your hospitality.”

Priest Xi gestured them away, and away Yunho and Kyuhyun stepped, bowing as they went.

 

*

Women came from the temple to entertain Yunho and his men with seductive dancing by the camp fires. Yunho bit into a chicken leg hungrily while next to him, Kyuhyun sat motionless and slack-jawed with another kind of hunger as he watched the women dance. Yunho’s men helped with the music as they sang, and banged on drums brought out from the temple residence.

Luhan came and sat on the log beside Yunho. “Do you like any of them?” Luhan asked in his thick accent.

Yunho’s chewing slowed. “Do I like my men? Of course! They are very able soldiers, each with an interesting back-story of how they came to be under my command – “

“No, I mean,” Luhan laughed, “the women. Do you like any of the women? They have been trained as sleeping dictionaries, so you are to take one to your bed tonight.”

Yunho choked. Luhan patted his back until he subsided into coughing. “I have no interest in taking anyone anywhere near my bed tonight, I’m afraid,” said Yunho eventually.

Luhan looked alarmed. Then he gestured at one dark haired lady belly dancing just out of Minwoo and Jonghwan’s reach. “Lihua has much experience, and is versed in eight languages and dialects. She is the best at translation, and the highest ranking dictionary in the temple residence.”

Yunho side-eyed her. Catching his expression, Luhan gestured to a brown-haired girl with a youthful face and small figure. “Or if you prefer a touch of innocence, Liang is our newest priestess. She is not a virgin, but she has little experience... so she is _like_ a virgin – “

“I’m not going to – “ Yunho interrupted. “I can’t. Where I’m from, you must be married before you bed a woman.”

Luhan looked at Yunho with alarm. “So you are a virgin yourself?”

Luhan had made it sound astonishing, but it was normal for an unmarried person from Hamsa to have their virginity intact. Embarrassed, Yunho tried and failed to look Luhan in the eye. “It is a sacred – a sacred act – “

“Yes,” agreed Luhan. “That is why we are free to choose our lovers, because orgasm brings us closer to God.”

Yunho was thankful for the night’s darkness, because he was blushing. “I’m not completely a virgin,” Yunho confessed, hoping that made sense. He’d tumbled around in the hay with the smith’s apprentice back home, and hoped that counted.

Luhan still looked wide-eyed, and partly amused. He said, “You have to choose a woman to share your nights while you are here. If Priest Xi finds out you have not, he will make you leave.”

Shocked, Yunho stared at Luhan properly. “Pardon?”

“This is our culture,” Luhan explained. “If you don’t hire a sleeping dictionary, Priest Xi will think you think his priestesses aren’t good enough for you.”

“Can I hire a sleeping dictionary?” Kyuhyun butted in.

“No, only the captain has permission,” said Luhan, laughing. “But they are free women, so you are within your right as a man to woo.”

“Right!” said Kyuhyun, cracking his knuckles. He got up and went over to woo a priestess with long blonde hair. He said something and she laughed, throwing back her head and displaying her bare throat.

 

*

“The answer is still no,” Yunho told Luhan, hours later, as they lingered at Yunho’s tent. His men were still up and partying, but Yunho was tired. All he wanted to do with curl up in his blankets and furs. “I’m not interested.”

Nearby, Lihua overheard and turned and glared at him. She had taken offence.

Yunho went to pull back the flap of his tent –

“Wait,” said Luhan, his touch gentle on Yunho’s arm. “I – I am also a sleeping dictionary. I’m somewhat experienced, and I’m clean – “

“What?” Yunho barked, alarmed. “No I’m not – I won’t take you – I – “ He broke off, and looked at Luhan once again. In the temple he had thought him pretty, and friendly – and yes, attractive, but – “Aren’t you sleeping with Priest Xi?”

“No!” said Luhan, then pulled a face. “I am not!”

“In the temple, it seemed – “

“It’s not like that!”

“Okay,” said Yunho, “okay.” Then he nodded, slowly, meaningfully.

Luhan straightened his shoulders, realising what Yunho meant. “Okay. Okay, good.” He smiled. “You have chosen well.” He turned and gestured at Lihua, she got his meaning and giggled into her hand.

Yunho pulled back the flap of his tent and gestured for Luhan to go in.

 

*

Luhan gently pulled away his robes. Lying back on the furs, naked and erect, Yunho watched Luhan’s graceful movements. Warm, soft, unblemished skin was revealed to him. “Do you want me to be demure?” Luhan asked as he allowed his golden fringe to fall into his eyes with a seductive tilt of his head, “Or – “ he straddled Yunho’s hips, “ – do you prefer the more feisty approach?”

Yunho smoothed his palms up Luhan’s bare thighs. “I want you to be yourself.”

Luhan paused and gave Yunho a soft, vulnerable look. “I – I don’t – “

“You’re the one in control of me,” Yunho reminded him. “You’re the one who knows what to do.”

Luhan leaned down and kissed him slowly and deeply, eyes closed tightly shut.

Later, Yunho hovered over Luhan and slid into his body as slowly and carefully as he could. He watched Luhan’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks as he mewled in satisfaction. “Me – here, like this – “ Yunho gasped out, barely coherent at the feel of Luhan’s heat surrounding his member, “does it feel good?”

“Very good,” Luhan moaned. “Just being here, under you, being pleasured by you – “ He broke off, his whole body shaking as Yunho pressed all the way in.

The next morning, Yunho untangled himself from Luhan’s warm embrace, got dressed and went out to see what was happening about breakfast. Already Changbum was on it, cooking left-over meat and vegetables from the night before over the raw fire, mixing it into a stew. They greeted each other, then Yunho asked, “Where’s Kyuhyun? Did he go out on patrol with Minwoo, or...” He chuckled, “is he still in bed?”

Changbum avoided his eyes. “He’s, ahhhh...” He trailed off as Yunho went to Kyuhyun’s tent and pulled back the flap. If someone was in there, naked, that was their problem.

Except no one was in there.

Yunho frowned and looked over his shoulder at Changbum, who seemed occupied with his stew. Yunho walked off into the wood in the direction of the hill where Minwoo would be acting as scout at this time of morning. He found Kyuhyun on the way, back to him, sending off a raven with a small scroll tied to its leg.

“What are you doing?” Yunho asked.

Shocked, Kyuhyun spun around. Upon seeing Yunho standing there, he looked guilty for a second before his expression smoothed over. “Just... sending a letter to my parents. I want them to know I’m doing okay.”

Yunho frowned. “You know all correspondence has to go through me first, right? With the great King Dongsik peace keeping in the Northern Continent, we don’t know who might be spying on us.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, hyung,” said Kyuhyun. “I didn’t put anything of our mission in the letter, I swear. Just that I was eating well.” He laughed nervously and tapped his thigh. “You know how mothers worry.”

When Yunho and Kyuhyun got back to camp, Luhan was up and pleasantly chatting to Changbum and Jonghwan. When he saw Yunho’s approach, his whole face lit up. Yunho returned the smile, but tried to keep it cool; he was in front of his subordinates, after all.

Over the next two weeks Yunho kept in peaceful communication with Priest Xi and other community leaders, learning as best he could about health, food and spices, and other cultural aspects of the island. During this time Luhan translated the conversations as they went on, while in the evenings, after he had reported the day in his log, Yunho would take his sleeping dictionary against the sleeping furs.

One evening, they laid post-coitus, skin made golden by the candle light. Yunho linked their fingers together and said, “You know my mission here is nearly complete.”

Luhan eyes shuttered, avoiding Yunho’s gaze. “Where will you go?”

Yunho smiled at him, fond. “Just the next island over. I could come back and visit while I’m on the Para Isles.”

Luhan looked him in the eyes, sincere. His lips quivered, and he said, “I could come with you. I know the main dialects of the surrounding islands, so I could be of use to your missions. I’d just need to ask Priest Xi, but I’m sure he’ll let me.”

Yunho took in his hopeful expression. He nodded, grazing his knuckles against Luhan’s chin and throat. “Alright, we’ll ask him tomorrow.”

But the chance never came, for the next day came with a messenger of pale skin and dark hair. He touched down into the clearing on a giant red-eyed hawk, then dismounted and bowed to Yunho just as he and Luhan were exiting their tent. With two hands the man passed Yunho a scroll with the queen’s seal.

Yunho took it hesitantly, then stared at the messenger. “What is this?”

“Captain Jung Yunho,” said the man, standing to attention and saluting. “I am Lee Jonghyun, delivering this official summons on behalf of the Her Majesty Queen Myeongseong of Misra.”

“Thank you,” said Yunho quietly. "I shall read this in my tent.”

A few moments later, Yunho called Kyuhyun into his tent. He passed the letter to him, and Kyuhyun read it quietly. Yunho watched him closely – he seemed calm, and unsurprised.

“We’ve been summoned to the capital,” said Kyuhyun eventually, stating the obvious. “You and I, that is. You’re to appoint a new captain and lieutenant of this unit.”

“I don’t understand,” said Yunho, still in disbelief, “did I do something wrong?”

Kyuhyun glanced back down at the letter quickly. “Not at all, far from it – it’s a promotion.” He paused as Yunho rubbed his chin and looked to the side, unseeing. “They’re asking you to be Dark Knight to the prince, a very, very high honour, and well paid.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” said Yunho. “Why now? We’re in the middle of our peace-keeping mission; in fact I feel like we’ve barely started.”

Kyuhyun sat back into a more relaxed position. “Does it matter? This is great news, hyung, we get to go work in the capital, back to civilised society and warm baths, hot bread, and cold beer.”

Yunho smoothed the side of his hair and tried to smile. “I just feel like I found a place here. And... and a person.”

Although Kyuhyun looked sympathetic, something in his eyes hardened. “You can’t keep the sleeping dictionary, hyung.”

Yunho slid his eyes away.

Outside the tent, Jonghyun was still standing patiently, the reins to his hawk clutched loosely in one hand. “I must advise you to travel lightly,” he said, when Yunho and Kyuhun came out of the tent. “The birds are really only able to carry people.”

“The birds?” asked Kyuhyun. Jonghyun pointed behind them, and sure enough, there were two red-eyed hawks grazing among the trees.

“We must leave as soon as you are ready. Within the hour is preferable, so that we make it to d’Ys in two days.”

“That fast?” said Kyuhyun in awe. “I’d only ever ridden one in training, and never across long distances...”

Yunho stopped listening. A few metres away, Luhan stood, his fingers twisting around one another in nervousness. Yunho walked over and clumsily grabbed his shoulder. “I have to go,” he told him, “and I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Luhan leaned forward and buried his face in Yunho’s chest. Yunho felt arms snake around his waist. He hugged him back, and then with sudden compulsion, squeezed him against his body and kissed his golden hair.

When they pulled away. Luhan said, eyes bright with unshed tears, “We will see each other again, of that I am sure.”


	3. d'Ys

To say riding a giant hawk across country and sea was exhilarating would be an understatement. Yunho, Kyuhyun and Jonghyun sat on the back of the birds and flew for two whole days, stopping only for meals and rest. Although Yunho was initially reluctant to leave the lush beauty of the Para Isles, he did eventually come to the conclusion Kyuhyun had: that guarding Prince Changmin would be a high honour, as well as a good step in the right direction for his career.

As he soared over glorious mountains topped with snow, he was reminded of his own mountainous home town, and of a night ten years ago, when he had met Prince Changmin for the first time. The boy had been quiet and trusting, and well behaved as Yunho had pulled him into his arms and taken him to safety...

He kept that in mind – that the prince was not just worth guarding, but that it could be something Yunho could enjoy. To be by the prince’s side, protecting him always, would almost come naturally in the days to come.

The party touched down in the city of d’Ys, on the stone work of the royal family’s highest tower. Yunho reined in the bird as best he could, and men in black garments, held together with a brooch with the symbol of a sword crossed with a bow over the grinning face of a skull, ran forward to take the reins while Yunho, Kyuhyun and Jonghyun got off their hawks. The brooch was the same as the one Jonghyun wore on the breast of his riding leathers.

“Are you a member of the monarchy’s flight unit?” Yunho asked Jonghyun.

“No,” was the answer, before he turned and left with the others.

Kyuhyun grabbed Yunho’s arm and walked him towards a man standing at the end of the lane-way. “He is a member of the Guild of Assassins. He is sometimes hired by the royal family.”

“What?” Yunho stage-whispered, watching as Jonghyun and the other guild members went down stairs. “Then why - ?”

“They’re a trustworthy bunch, so they tend to get hired by the royals a lot. They would never say no to any job.”

They met the man at the end of the land-way, who turned out to be a knight name Ryeowook from Prince Changmin’s personal guard. “Welcome, Captain Jung,” he said, saluting, “and welcome back, Sir Cho.”

Then he looked Yunho over. "Seems we have work to do before you can be presented to court.”

 

*

Yunho had been to the great water city of d’Ys many times before, but never to the central sector, and he had never stayed very long to enjoy sight-seeing; unless he counted the mid sector pub crawl, and he didn’t.

The castle itself was a marvel of stone work and turrets, of water seeming to flow from every orifice available, while fountains decorated every corner and every garden. Walking through the grounds on the footpath meant walking over a bridge over a fresh water stream filled with water flowers and cod. Yunho couldn’t help but gape at all the fresh blue beauty of it all as Ryeowook lead him to a back garden. Kyuhyun had left them to go see to his leader.

Ryeowook stopped Yunho in a small courtyard with high walls. With them stood two young male servants, who were holding buckets and standing by a large tub of water.

Ryeowook cleared his throat, then commanded, “Strip.”

Yunho stared at him for a moment, then did as he was told. He turned to the servants –

They both looked at his crotch in shock; the blonde haired one was so surprised he dropped his pail of water. The tawny haired one smirked.

Yunho awkwardly attempted to cover his private parts with his hands. The blonde got over his surprise enough to say, “My apologies sir, but that’s not going to be enough to hide it all.” The other servant giggled into his hands, a bright blush coming over his cheeks.

“That’s enough, you two,” said Ryeowook, though he was trying to hide an amused smile of his own. “This man will soon be Dark Knight to Prince Changmin, so he deserves your utmost respect.”

“Lucky prince,” the blonde murmured with a hint of jealousy, and his friend burst out with laughter that he quickly constrained.

Ryeowook stepped away from Yunho and waved his hand at the servants. Then the servants splashed Yunho with icy-cold water.

 

*

Yunho was presented to Queen Myeongseong and her royal subjects in the throne room. Despite her mature age she was a real beauty with long black hair and flowing silk dress. She looked perplexed, however, when Ryeowook presented a newly washed and well-dressed Yunho.

She tapped her fingers against the hard wood of the throne’s armrest. “Jung Yunho, Heir to Hamsa...” she said. “Am I supposed to know why you’re here?”

“Well, Your Majesty...” Yunho cleared his throat and hesitated when next to him something in Ryeowook’s face changed. He looked pale with realisation. “You sent for me while I was on my mission in the Para Isles to become Dark Knight to Prince Changmin – “

“Ah!” exclaimed the Queen pleasantly. Her face was wiped clean of confusion. “You are applying for the position? Good. You will train with Leeteuk’s unit for a week before I knight you.” She frowned suddenly and turned to the knight closest to her. “Ah, where is Changmin by the way?”

 

*

Yunho was told to seek out the Park Leeteuk, Grand Master of Prince Changmin’s knights, for orientation and training. Ryeowook said he would most likely be on the practice field on the other side of the royal grounds – far enough away from the throne room for Yunho to get lost.

At first he had strolled through the lush royal gardens, enjoying the Northern and Southern themes, of channels snaking through the grass and flower beds. After his sixth garden, however, he was starting to feel some panic. The walls seemed now to be less like castle walls and more like the walls of a maze, deliberately structured to confuse. And then Yunho stopped, and listened.

Coming to him on the breeze was a beautiful song; the voice singing was light yet heartfelt, though he could not yet hear the words... he followed the sad splendour of the melody until it got louder. Perhaps a water nymph had noticed Yunho’s plight and had decided to lead him out of this maze...

He rounded a bush and saw a male in long robes kneeling over a pond, singing softly to the water. With every note he sung, the water rippled, creating minute waves and droplets here and there, as if it were raining, as if the man was singing to the water and the water was _responding in joy_. In awe, Yunho slowly approached, stepping out of the shade and into the sun, then he knelt at the pond beside the man – not too close.

Yunho looked down at the pond just as the man had finished singing. He looked at their reflections – looked at the man’s reflection, and smiled fondly.

The man’s reflection smiled back.

“That was really beautiful,” said Yunho –

At the sound of Yunho’s voice the man jerked to his feet in utmost shock, then stared at Yunho as if he were a ghost, hands clutching the open folds of the robes at his chest. Awkwardly, Yunho got to his feet too. “I’m sorry,” Yunho told him sincerely, brushing his knees, “I didn’t mean to disturb you. It’s just – I’m a bit lost, you see, and your voice is so – heavenly, and – “ Yunho tilted his head. “Did you know the water listens to you, when you sing?”

The man’s eyes only widened as he took in Yunho’s face, then moved down his body, slowly, then up again.

Meanwhile, Yunho took in his own fill. This man was incredibly gorgeous: large nose and mouth, innocent seeming eyes, his dark hair wavy and long to his chin. The robes he wore were long and tight, accentuating his masculine figure. The material of his robes and the various jewellery he wore on his fingers, ears and even in his hair suggested high-birth and wealth.

They stared at each other, the other man’s lips parting... and there was something, so, so familiar about him... and _of course_ \- it hit Yunho all at once – the face, the water, the shyness, the wealth – it was Prince Changmin, only not the child Yunho had remembered and had stupidly thought he would meet – but Prince Changmin _the man_ , the tall beauty standing before him.

Yunho felt intimidated by it all, suddenly. He got to his knees once more and bowed low. “Your Highness, a real pleasure to meet you.”

A pause, then: “Rise,” said the prince, voice low and quiet.

Yunho did immediately, bouncing up so fast in his enthusiasm he almost toppled to the side. The prince’s mouth twitched upwards briefly, before his expression smoothed over into something inscrutable.

An awkward pause, as both looked at each other, eyes flicking to take in the face, and away again. And then Yunho blurted, “Do you remember me? We met once before. But, you were only young then.”

Prince Changmin lowered his lids in an almost demure fashion. His voice was a kind of smooth crooning. “Am I supposed to remember you?” he said.

Yunho felt something hot like embarrassment rise inside him. He opened his mouth to answer –

“Sir Jung!” a young voice called. Yunho and the prince looked across the pond to see the tawny-haired servant from that morning waving his arm. Then he looked at the prince. “Oh! Your Majesty,” he said, bowing low. Then he rounded the pond at a jog.

“Sorry to take him away from you, Your Highness,” he said, when he’d arrived in front of them, “but Sir Jung is to attend training with your knights.”

“And I’m late,” Yunho laughed, self-depreciatingly. He bowed to Prince Changmin. “If you would release me, then I thank you for your precious time, and we’ll see each other soon.”

Eyelids shuttered, the prince said nothing. Yunho left.

 

*

The boy’s name was Taemin, and he was a servant training to be a squire, as there was just enough nobility in his blood left for him to qualify as a knight one day. The leader of Prince Changmin’s personal guard, Leeteuk, decided on testing Yunho against himself and various other knights. First, however –

“The new dark night, eh?” said Sungmin, as he poked Yunho in the breast. A dozen knights surrounded him, staring and chattering away as if Yunho were some new and exciting weapon on display.

“Doubt he’ll make it,” said Hyukjae, throwing Yunho a challenging look.

“We’ll see,” said Yesung. “He’s got the look of a steady soldier.”

“He’s pretty too,” Heechul drawled. He flicked his long hair over one shoulder. “Not as pretty as me though, of course.”

“The two of you worked well together?” Leeteuk asked Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun crossed his arms. “Very well. He’s a great leader – “

“Uh-oh, better watch your position, Sir – “ said Hyukjae to Leeteuk.

“It's not like that!” Yunho reassured Leeteuk quickly, with a nervous giggle. “I wouldn’t dream of – “

“Don’t worry about Hyukjae, Yunho-hyung,” said Kyuhyun, “he’s just like that, and,” he added with a raised eyebrow in Hyukjae’s direction, “he’s probably jealous.”

Hyukjae laughed. “Oh, please.”

Leeteuk clapped Yunho on the shoulder. “I’m not worried, friend.” He tilted his head to the side and smirked. “Of what I know of our dear Prince Changmin, you will be his Dark Knight or you will be no one at all.”

Later Yunho beat Leeteuk at a sparring match, thought it was tough; but not Hyukjae, who gloated afterwards. Yunho laughed and applauded good-naturedly, but deep down his pride was hurt.

“And you’ll be beaten again!” Kyuhyun teased, on the archery field. Khuhyun aimed, then shot his arrow across the grass. It hit bullseye with a _thunk_.

Yunho smirked and lifted his bow, aimed, and shot a bullseye himself. He lowered his bow. “You forget I caught most of our game on the Para Isles,” Yunho said. “I had to catch my dinner back home, too.”

Kyuhyun was unfazed, his smile teasing. “Regardless, I am still the best,” he decided, chest puffed out.

Training with the men was physically exhausting, but pleasant to the mind, as hard work was. By the end of the week Yunho had cuts and bruises and burns and sore muscles, but he didn’t care, and he’d made great friends in the prince’s knights. Even with teasing from some of them, Leeteuk and Heechul, the older knights, gave him praise for his hard work and results.

In one of the tents set up next to the sparring field, Taemin took off Yunho’s gauntlets then got to work on the buckles of his vambraces. “You survived the week!” Taemin said, grinning. He went to unclip Yunho’s breast plate. “After you’re knighted this evening, the knights will try to get you very drunk, so be careful.” Taemin cleared his throat in hesitation, then said quietyly, “I won’t be your squire anymore.”

Yunho, who had been tiredly and proverbially staring off into space, blinked down at the boy’s pate as he went to work removing Yunho’s decorative tasset over his thighs. “You won’t?”

“Well I – I may be able to dress you and undress you every once in a while. And if I see any of your armour or weapons in the armoury I don’t mind giving them a polish.”

“That’s nice of you, Taeminnie,” said Yunho as he softly, brushing his fingers over Taemin’s silken locks. Taemin looked up, then, and Yunho’s fingers accidentally brushed against Taemin’s cheek and lips. Taemin blushed, red staining his cheeks and making his mouth rosy. Yunho awkwardly pulled his hand away. “Who will help me with my armour in future?” Yunho asked.

“Minho, His Highness’s manservant.”

“Oh.”

Tasset removed, Taemin smoothed his hands up Yunho’s thighs, hips, and stomach as he rose to his feet. Yunho held his breath, heart beating – and suddenly he was looking at Taemin in a new light, like he was something desirable, attainable, and worth having in that way. Yunho hadn’t thought to look at Taemin quite that way because he was young, and thin – moreso than Luhan had been, who although smaller than Yunho, had an easily seen maturity.

The lack of resistance from Yunho seemed to spur Taemin on, though he stood stock still. Taemin’s hands moved to Yunho’s chest –

Taemin gently removed Yunho’s pauldron. Yunho exhaled shakily through his nose. “I’m sorry,” said Taemin. “I’ve probably made you uncomfortable and I don’t even know if you – if you are – “

“I am,” Yunho reassured quickly. Taemin, head bowed, froze. “I mean I have – the inclination – uh, I don’t know how you say it in Misra – “

“It’s fine,” said Taemin quietly, “I understand.” And then he titled his face up, got on his tippy-toes and kissed Yunho softly, hesitantly, mouth open and sweet and lush.


	4. Shea

He was knighted by the queen in the royal court, watched on by her royal subjects, as well as Prince Changmin and Princesses Sooyeon and Jiyeon. “Rise, Sir Yunho Jung of Gwanju, Hamsa,” Queen Myeongseong commanded, and Yunho did as he was told and many clapped, even the aloof Prince Changmin.

Afterwards there was a feast for the royal court and the knights in Leeteuk’s unit. As Taemin had warned, many of Yunho’s fellow knights attempted to get him drunk by getting the servants to refill his goblet constantly.

Later, Kyuhyun slurred, “This wine is delightful!”

“Hurrumph, it’s not enough,” said Shindong. “Men, we ought to go down to the tavern and have us some rum.”

“Sounds grand,” Heechul drawled. “I could do with some good, hard liquor.”

“I could do with a good woman,” said Leeteuk, eyes unfocused, elbow on the table and head leaning on his hand. Then he blinked several times and looked at Heechul.

And looked some more.

“No,” said Heechul. “No, no, no no no.”

“But you look like a woman.”

“There’s no way that’s going to happen.” He stood up from the long table. “Come lads, we’re going to the tavern.”

“Fair enough, there’s no one left but the prince and princesses anyway,” said Kyuhyun, and sure enough, when Yunho looked, the Queen and most of the older lords and ladies were heading to bed.

“I don’t drink,” Hyukjae announced, eyeing the others with some judgement.

“There’s a brothel next door,” Kyuhyun told him.

“Alright, I’m coming.”

The whole bunch of knights got up, most on unsteady feet, bowing to Prince Changmin as they stumbled out of the hall. Yunho lingered, and Prince Changmin leaned back in his chair and gestured for him to come over with a twitch of his fingers.

By the way the prince was lounging in his chair, it seemed at first that he was lazy and bored; but under that demeanour seemed to lay tenseness. Yunho could not put his finger on why he felt it from him, but it seemed Prince Changmin’s eyes were hard, even though his gaze bored into Yunho for only two seconds before flicking away again.

Yunho bowed inelegantly, feeling trepidation from seeing the tense line of Changmin’s mouth. This was the young man Yunho would spend the rest of his life protecting, and it did not seem to be getting off on a good start. “Yes, Your Highness?” asked Yunho.

Then Yunho realised what it was - the prince seemed on the verge of sneering and rolling his eyes at Yunho. Yunho’s face heated; the possibility was great that Prince Changmin was dissatisfied with Yunho, and it made him feel small and inadequate. The prince said, voice deceptively light so that his next words came out almost sarcastic, “Congratulations. It seems I must remind you that you start work for me first thing tomorrow morning.”

Yunho blushed even more, feeling admonished. “Y-yes sire.”

Prince Changmin did roll his eyes, then, looking away from Yunho. “Then do not drink too much and do not stay out too late.”

“I’ll be there bright and early as the sun!” Yunho blurted out, grinning.

Changmin slowly looked up at his now dark night, blinking several times in incredulity as he did. Yunho’s smile faded. “My chambers,” Changmin informed him.

“Yes, sire.”

“Don’t be late.”

“Yes sire.”

Changmin turned his face away. “You’re dismissed.”

*

 

“He spins his sword like he’s dancing,” Hyukjae mocked, standing from his chair. “And if he’s dancing then he dances like a woman trying to lure a man into her bed – “ and here Hyukjae did a demonstration for the knights and the other patrons of the tavern, moves girly and exaggerated. Shindong guffawed. Leeteuk hailed for more ale. Everyone was laughing.

Hyukjae sat back down with a screech of wood against stone. “He won’t last the week.”

“Oh oh!” Leeteuk pulled out his purse and waved it in Hyukjae’s face. “Put your money where your mouth is. I’ll bet you five gold coins he lasts two months.”

“Fine,” said Hyukjae, rummaging through his pocket, “I’ll take your bet.”

“Come on lads,” said Leeteuk, standing up from the table and gesticulating. “Throw your money in and let’s have a real bet.”

“Gambling is the devil’s business!” Siwon declared as all the knights got excited, pulling out money from their purses and throwing coins on the table. “I’ll have no part of it.”

“Then get a quill and parchment from the bar and you can keep score for us. Go, shoo!”

Siwon got up and did as he was told.

“I think Sir Yunho’s got spirit,” said Donghae. “I give him three months.”

“One month,” said Yesung, “and that’s me being generous.”

“Hey guys.”

All the knights froze, then turned, to see Yunho standing nearby. Yunho looked at Hyukjae. “Were you making fun of me?”

Hyukjae looked unapologetic. “It’s right isn’t it? You fight like a woman.”

Silence reined. Kyuhyun, blasé, sipped his ale. Yunho looked at Siwon, because he seemed the most innocent. “What are you guys doing?”

“Ahhhhh...” said Siwon, quill and parchment frozen in his hands. He looked to Leeteuk for help.

“You’re a great knight, Yunho...” Leeteuk told him, before trailing off.

Yunho looked away. Kyuhyun took another sip. Awkwardness reigned.

“We were betting on how long you would last as Prince Changmin’s Dark Knight,” said Kyuhyun eventually, breaking the silence. He stood from his chair with a screech of chair legs against the floor, pulled out his leather purse then threw gold coins onto the table. Then Kyuhyun turned to Siwon. “Put me down for one year.”

The knights murmured. Siwon stared at Kyuhyun then rapidly put his head down and wrote on the parchment.

Kyuhyun turned to Yunho. “Yunho-hyung. It’s not that we don’t have faith in you or your abilities – we think you make a great knight. It’s just that Prince Changmin’s previous dark knights have never lasted more than a few weeks. His Highness usually makes them leave, or they run away, or, in one case, they die. Prince Changmin has hated every one of his dark knights before you, and he has gone out of his way to make their lives a living hell. And in the end, he is always amused and entertained by it – “

“That’s enough, Kyuhyun,” said Leeteuk. “You’re treading on treasonous ground, here.”

“Changmin is my best friend!” Kyuhyun snapped. “I can say whatever I want.”

Hyukjae sniggered.

Kyuhyun smirked darkly and turned to Hyukjae. “Are you aware that your jealousy over Yunho-hyung’s promotion is obvious? Everyone’s laughing at you behind your back.”

Hyukjae shot up from his chair. “Fuck you, you soulless little upstart!”

Kyuhyun’s eyes flashed in triumph. “I bet you’re jealous of my archery skills. Or is it that I have the crown prince’s ear?”

The two argued for a while, and the other knights, used to Kyuhyun’s bating, sat back down and drank and talked more.

Yunho sat next to Kyuhyun with his mug of ale from the bar. “Thanks,” Yunho said quietly, giving Kyuhyun a friendly nudge, “but why did you bet only a year?”

Kyuhyun shrugged one shoulder and swayed in his seat. “Well, think about it,” he said, tapping Yunho’s forehead. “You’re special, so His Highness will keep you forever. But there’s a war coming...” Kyuhyun slid his eyes away and then back again. “You’ve noticed, right? The king has been up north an awfully long time. I don’t know when it will come exactly, but it will come soon. And I know you... you’re loyal. And you’ll protect Changminnie until the day you die...”

Kyuhyun grabbed Yunho by the collar suddenly, and gave him a wild, unfocused look. “You’re drunk,” Yunho realised. “Is any of what you’re saying even true?”

“You’ll die,” Kyuhyun continued, talking as if Yunho hadn’t said anything. “You’ll die for him, and that is what I bet on.”

*

 

Yunho knocked on the door to Prince Changmin’s chambers and entered when prompted. He closed the door behind him and stood to attention.

Over by the fireplace, Prince Changmin was bathing in a bath full of water and flowers. The heat and scent hit Yunho first, wafting over him. Then secondly, the sight of the prince, naked torso and limbs languishing over the side of the tub, all golden skin and fresh youthfulness.

Minho, the prince’s manservant, was also there. He pulled a bucket from its hanging place over the fire, then poured the hot water slowly over Prince Changmin’s head.

Yunho kept his face and voice neutral. “Is this a bad time, sire?”

“Not at all,” said the prince nonchalantly.

“Then I, Sir Yunho Jung, am here at your service.”

Changmin regarded him with a tilt of his head and a smirk, wet tendrils of dark hair hanging over his face and neck. Then he looked to his manservant. “Minho-yah, you are dismissed.”

Minho blinked at him a moment, then bowed, placed his bucket by the fire and left the chambers. Once the door was shut behind him, Prince Changmin said to Yunho, “Come here.”

Yunho hesitated, then went over. “See that plate of grapes?” said the prince, pointing to the object on the corner table. “Bring it over, and feed me.” He pushed his wet fringe out of his eyes with a delicate sweep, exposing his bare wrist. “Grape by grape.”

Yunho did as he was told, balancing the plate on one hand. He plucked a green grape from its stalk and leaned over the tub slightly, then offered it to the prince.

The prince looked up at Yunho, amused. “Do you expect me to lean forward? Bring it to my mouth.”

Yunho, feeling uncomfortably hot under his dark leathers, slowly brought it to Prince Changmin’s lips. He was trying to be careful not to let his fingers touch his mouth, but he did not succeed. Prince Changmin took it between his teeth, then a pink tongue curled out and took the grape into his mouth. He crunched it, and moaned softly in satisfaction.

Yunho plucked another, and did it again. Of Prince Changmin’s intentions, Yunho was unsure, though he could guess that the prince meant to belittle him by making him perform basic servant chores. So, the knights were right – in Changmin’s eyes, Yunho was a brand new toy for him to play with and torment.

If the prince thought Yunho would feel tormented after a couple of grapes, he would be disappointed.

“Minho didn’t finish,” the prince told him. He gestured lazily at his bare legs. “Wash my feet. Use goats’ milk first, then use oil to massage.”

Yunho went around the tub, dipped his hand in the thick milk, and with the other hand, held one ankle gently. Prince Changmin’s feet didn’t seem to need washing – his foot was clean and soft. From this vantage point, Yunho could not see the prince’s private parts due to the abundance of flowers floating on the water, but what he could see was his naked chest, nipples erect from the cold air hitting his wet skin.

Yunho washed the other foot, then with calloused hands on incongruously tense calves, bent Prince Changmin’s legs so his feet would rinse in the water. Then he pulled one out – the angle caused the prince’s legs to flop open.

Yunho paused, looking at the oils lined up on the side table. Prince Changmin lifted an eyebrow. “Which oil should I use?” asked Yunho.

“Hmmm,” the prince murmured thoughtfully, tracing his glistening red lips with one finger. “How about you choose?”

Yunho went over and picked one glass vial at random. It was yellow in colour, and when he pulled off the stopper to sniff it, it smelt sweet and nutty.

Changmin saw him. “Shea butter oil. Good choice.”

Yunho poured a decent amount of oil onto his hand, then placed the vial to the side. He took the hanging foot and slathered oil all over it, then using his thumbs, placed pressure below the balls of his foot.

Prince Changmin jerked as if he hadn’t expected it, then melted back against the tub with an animalistic moan, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, exposing his throat. Yunho continued his ministrations, smoothing firm pressure from heel to toes.

He continued with the other foot. Prince Changmin hummed his pleasure, writhing a little. “Oh,” he said softly, “oh.”

Yunho could see that although young the prince had a well toned body, lithe and fertile and masculine. Yunho was not blind – Prince Changmin was very attractive, feminine features mixing with his masculinity to create a perfect beauty. Yunho allowed himself an eyeful of the prince’s chest and throat bared for him to see, soft moans emitted for him to hear –

Or at least, he could pretend they were for him, in this small pocket of time.

Prince Changmin sat back up and pulled his foot away, placing it back into the tub. “Well done,” he said, seeming bored all of a sudden. “I must get some paperwork done before luncheon. Pass me my towel.”

Yunho did as he was told, and as the prince made to stand up, Yunho shuffled away and politely avoided his gaze. Prince Changmin chuckled, as if he found Yunho’s manners amusing. “If you want to use the bath,” he said, “you may. Though I’d say the water isn’t as warm as before.”

Yunho hesitated. “No thank you, sire.”

Prince Changmin wrapped his towel around his hips, a line of dark hair running from his navel to below the towel. He gave Yunho a hard stare. “I said,” he bit out, “you may use the bath.”

Yunho bowed a little. “Yes sire, thank you very much, sire.”

The prince grinned. “You’re welcome!” When he went behind the decorative dressing screen to get dressed, Yunho quickly undressed himself, unbuckling the many belts and straps to undo his fighting leathers. Prince Changmin hummed a song softly as he dressed behind the screen, and Yunho stepped over the edge of the bath and then lowered himself in. The prince was right: the water wasn’t hot.

Prince Changmin came out from behind the screen just as Yunho lit his own hands on fire. The prince stared as Yunho, feeling caught doing something wrong, slowly lowered his hands into the water. The constant admittance of the elemental power from Yunho’s hands caused the water to roll, quickly heating it up.

The prince gave Yunho a half smile. “Useful.”

Yunho smiled. “Yes, sire.”

Prince Changmin’s eyes flicked from Yunho’s face to his chest, then away as he walked towards his desk in the corner of the room, by the stained glass window. Feeling self-conscious and blushing because of it, Yunho splashed water over his shoulders and chest. He had gotten over his strange physique many years ago, but somehow the prince’s gaze was able to bring all Yunho’s insecurities to the surface. He had to remind himself that just because Prince Changmin judged him and found him lacking, it did not mean that the prince’s judgement was worth the loss of self-confidence. He was just a prince, he wasn’t king of the world, Yunho reminded himself.

Prince Changmin sat at his desk and put inked quill to parchment, and started writing. Yunho could not deny that a nice hot bath did wonders for his sore muscles and rough skin. Furthermore, the water was scented, and the steam caused the flowers to release their perfumes. He took goat’s milk and washed himself everywhere – face, limbs, torso, feet – and then, with a peek in Prince Changmin’s direction, he got on his knees, hips still under the water, and reached down and washed his private parts, scrubbing away with his fingers.

It was a moment before Yunho realised that the scratchy-scratching sound of the quill had stopped. He looked up at the prince and for a split second caught his eye before Changmin quickly looked down at his parchment again.


	5. Forget Me Not

Kyuhyun caught him in the corridor while Prince Changmin was speaking privately to a tall youth with ash-blonde hair. “So how did your first day go?” asked Kyuhyun.

Yunho leaned his hand on the handle of the sword at his hip. “Well, I think. His Highness had a bath, and then I had a bath. Then we had luncheon, then His Highness went to the library and read books and maps for the rest of the day.” Yunho’s tongue went to the corner of his mouth. He chuckled. “Pretty boring, really.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes were wide. “Wait a minute, wait a minute.” He checked that Prince Changmin was still occupied, then whispered to Yunho hastily, “He had a bath? In the morning?”

“Yes?”

“And then he made you have a bath? In front of him?”

“Yeah,” said Yunho. He flicked his fringe out of his eyes. “It was embarrassing at first, but I soon got over it.”

Kyuhyun sucked a breath through his teeth. “He is a piece of work,” he muttered to himself.

Yunho laughed. “He hates me.”

“Oh?” Kyuhyun’s eyes were wide again. “Why do you say that?”

“You know I met him ten years ago, right? I saved his life. I know he was just a child back then, but he doesn’t even remember me.”

“Doesn’t he?”

“He said so.”

Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows. “Did he really? Did he actually say the words ‘I don’t remember you’?”

“Well he – “

“Sometimes people lie, and sometimes people make truth look like a lie,” said Kyuhyun. “Politics, hyung, this castle is rife with it.”

Prince Changmin finished his conversation, and Yunho bid Kyuhyun farewell before jogging over to his prince’s side. “Who was that man, sire?”

“Lay, the royal practitioner. Be sure to go to him if you suffer from any ailments.” As they walked together down the corridor, Prince Changmin leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “A bastard child of a whore king in the north. Has the elemental power of healing.”

Yunho hummed in interest.

They walked through the entrance hall and stepped outside into the sun, then went to the stables. “We’re going into town,” Prince Changmin told Yunho.

“Yes, sire.”

“The middle district, mind. So I need you to not day dream or wander off or what-have-you.”

“Yes, sire...” said Yunho, feeling slightly insulted.

*

 

The middle district of d’Ys was busy with life and activity. People traded with the market stall owners while young children clung to their mothers’ skirts, youths loitered in the corners smoking, and men drank and gambled at tables outside the nearby tavern.

Yunho, Changmin and Minho rode into the square on horses, Minho displaying the Shim family crest flag high. “It’s Prince Changmin!” someone yelled in awe, and then an excited hush developed over the crowd, as people stopped what they were doing and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the crown prince.

Prince Changmin raised a hand elegantly and all fell silent. “Good day, fellow d’Ys citizens,” he said loudly, mouth curved in a wobbly smile that could either be smug or nervous depending on the onlooker’s bias. “Please continue on with your day, I am merely here to make some purchases just as you are.” Then he put his arm down.

Murmurs rose up as most went on with their business, though excitement still lingered on children’s faces, and Yunho swore he saw a lady swoon before her friends gasped and caught her. Minho helped the prince off his horse and to his feet, the mud on the ground already catching on his shoes and the ends of his cloak. Yunho dismounted and walked into the market slightly behind the prince as Minho helped a stable boy take the horses away for temporary housing.

Yunho stuck close – this was his second day as Dark Knight, and this place was unfamiliar and dangerous, and there was no way he would let his charge get hurt when he had only just started the job. He tried to be aware of all things at once – the prince, the people, and the shadows.

A gaggle of young ladies giggled and held onto one another as Prince Changmin passed them to a stall that sold fine items carved from bone. “Good day, Your Highness!” one of them called, flapping her handkerchief in his direction. All her friends burst into giggles, then gasped and cooed when he looked over his shoulder and smirked in their direction.

“You’re certainly popular, sire,” Yunho observed, as they stood in front of the stall.

Prince Changmin flipped his fringe out of his eyes. “Of course, Lord Yunho. They say I am the most beautiful prince in the land.”

Yunho grinned. “I don’t deny it.”

The prince looked at him then, eyes sharp but mouth soft. “Don’t you?”

“N-no, sire,” Yunho stuttered, pouting a little. “It is clear that you are... I mean, you’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. Not that I can say I’ve seen all the princes in the land, of course... Um. Should we buy... something? What about this ivory comb?” he finished with, fingering the object laid out on the table.

“Excellent choice, Sir Knight!” the seller burst out, looking all excited and eager. “It is made from desert lion bone, crafted with very precise detail – “ he pointed at the flower design relief in its corner.

Prince Changmin’s eyes were still on Yunho. “What do you think?” he asked him. “Do you like it?”

Yunho answered, “Yes sire, it is nice.”

“Minho-yah!” Prince Changmin called. His manservant came over and made the purchase.

After that they perused the other stalls. Jewellery, material, perfumes, and food were all displayed here. Prince Changmin decided to humiliate Yunho further by making him eat an apple from his hand.

“You have juice running down your chin,” Prince Changmin told him, pointing.

Yunho chewed and swallowed, then tried to wipe his face but his gloves were made of leather, and all it achieved was smearing. “It’s hard to eat from – “ he tilted his head. “ – this angle, sire.”

The prince gave him and unimpressed look, then finished the apple himself.

They went to an oil stand. “What should I buy?” Prince Changmin asked Yunho.

“I don’t know, I thought you had all the oils in the world, sire.”

“Not all,” Prince Changmin said slowly. He regarded Yunho with an upward tilt of his chin. “What is your favourite scent?”

“Ummm. Does firewood count, sire?”

The prince held in his laughter and turned to the seller. “Do you have such an oil?”

Later, once Prince Changmin had finally purchased massage oils, they went to the blacksmith in the next street. “Show him your sword,” Prince Changmin told Yunho. “I want it evaluated.”

“Sire, my sword was made by the finest blacksmith in Hamsa,” Yunho began, offended.

The prince levelled him a look, and Yunho sighed, unsheathed his sword and politely held it out for the blacksmith.

“Ahhh, beautiful,” crooned the old man. “Mountainous Hamsa rock dipped in Duidain glass to give it a sharp, hard finish.”

Prince Changmin frowned. “It’s made of glass?” he said incredulously.

“Duidain glass is stronger than any metal, sire,” Yunho told him.

“So it’s not a Hamsa sword, but a Duidain sword?” the prince mocked.

“Duidain glass is made from Duidain desert sand – and Hamsa owns part of that desert. It’s just what the glass is called.”

Prince Changmin hummed disbelievingly.

“It can withstand high temperatures,” the blacksmith said, handing Yunho his sword back with two hands and a bow. “Perfect for a fire elemental.”

“That is the point if its strange design, I suppose,” Prince Changmin commented lightly as Yunho sheathed his sword. The prince turned to Yunho. “I wish to speak to the blacksmith privately.”

“Sire!” protested Yunho. “I need to stay with you at all times. For your safety.”

“I’ll only be a moment,” the prince promised, voice lowered. “Please wait outside.”

Yunho went with great reluctance, but he wouldn’t be alone for long. He saw Taemin and Kibum down the street and waved frantically for them, jumping up and down. He couldn't go far from the blacksmith’s shop entrance, but hopefully –

Taemin saw him, grinned, and ran over. “Yunho-hyung!” He gave Yunho a hug around the waist. Kibum, standing a little ways away, gave a small wave.

Taemin looked up into Yunho’s face. “About before...”

“Best not talk about it now,” said Yunho, gently pulling Taemin’s arms away. He glanced at the blacksmith’s front entrance.

Taemin leaned up on his tippy-toes and whispered in Yunho’s ear, “I think about you.”

Yunho patted him on the arms, then spotted the florist across the muddy road. He ran over and nicked a small white flower, then went back over and tucked it gently behind Taemin’s ear. Taemin grinned wide, eyes bright.

Prince Changmin exited the blacksmith’s workshop just as Yunho’s finger’s were lingering on the shell of Taemin’s ear. They froze.

Minho stepped out a moment later, tying the coin purse back onto his belt. Then he spotted his friends. “Guys!” Yunho pulled away from Taemin just as Kibum and Minho ran to each other and embraced. Then Minho remembered his place and quickly ran to stand behind his prince.

Prince Changmin barely noticed as he kept his eyes on Taemin. His face was blank. Then he looked at Yunho and drawled, “If you’re going to give a child flowers, you’re not allowed to play favourites.” And then he pointed behind Yunho with his chin.

Yunho turned and looked on with dismay. Thirty pairs of eyes were standing in the road, staring at Yunho, and behind him, Prince Changmin. The children were all silent with awe.

Yunho went over to the florist again, and Minho helped him purchase a basket full of loose wildflowers. Yunho pulled one out and presented it. “Now, who wants a flower from Prince Changmin’s Dark Knight?”

Thirty little arms were raised in the air.

*

 

The sun was about to set, turning the sky orange and red. Yunho and Prince Changmin walked from the royal stables across the square.

The prince glanced at him. “Are you going to carry that basket with you everywhere? You look like a maiden.”

Yunho pouted. “Well, there’s still a twig of flowers left.”

Prince Changmin looked away, widening his eyes as if he were trying hard not to roll them.

From the basket, Yunho picked up the stalk of small blue flowers. He offered them up. “Would you like it, sire?”

They stopped. Prince Changmin turned to face him. “What are you going to do?” the prince laughed. “Put it behind my ear as if I’m one of those boys enamoured with you?”

“Well, yes, sire.” Yunho reached up and made to tuck it –

The prince’s hand snapped out and grabbed Yunho’s wrist. “You’re not allowed to touch me in public,” he warned.

“Oh.” Yunho pulled away. “My apologies, sire.”

“It’s fine.” In actual fact, the royal square was almost devoid of people, as was typical for this time of day. Prince Changmin took the flowers from Yunho’s grasp, then he reached up and tucked them behind Yunho’s ear.

Yunho stood, frozen, as the prince used great focus and pride in his handiwork, tucking it snugly between skin and hair.

The prince pulled away, and blinked at Yunho to get him back into focus. “Do you know what these flowers are?”

“No, sire.”

Prince Changmin smiled, eyes sliding away. “They’re called forget-me-nots. They’re the same flower on the comb you chose for me today, did you notice?”

“Oh. No, sire.”

The prince’s smile faded, his eyes going dull. He looked at the sunset, the sun now sinking behind the walls. “We should go,” he said. “We need to get ready for dinner.”

“Yes, sire,” said Yunho quietly as something in his heart tugged at him. When prince turned away, Yunho said, “Wait!”

Prince Changmin turned back to him, eyebrow raised and smirk back in place, though he wasn’t looking Yunho in the eye. He waited.

“Do you remember me?”

The prince blinked at him. “I’m sorry?”

“When you were a child, I rescued you from some attackers, back in Hamsa.”

Prince Changmin huffed a laugh to himself, bending his head low as he gave it an incredulous shake. He looked up at Yunho and said, “Of course I remember. People of my position cannot afford to forget things as great as life debts.”

“Ah, I see,” said Yunho. “Do you take life debts seriously, then, sire?”

“Not all that much in Misran culture, no. So don’t worry,” said the prince as he turned away and headed for the stairs to the castle entrance, “you are off the hook.”

*

 

One week later, Queen Myeongseong called Prince Changmin into the royal dining room early. “I need to speak to you about a certain matter, Changmin,” she said, as the prince went to sit at his usual seat at the table and Yunho stood to attention near the wall. The queen smoothed her hand over a piece of parchment containing a list. “I’ve sent letters out to the neighbouring nations about your forthcoming nuptials – “

“Mother!” Prince Changmin cried out.

The queen sighed as if she pre-empted his reaction. “Please, Changmin, for the love of the almighty goddess, do not make this harder than it needs to be; I still have Sooyeon and Jiyeon’s marriages to arrange and that’ll be a real struggle.”

Yunho couldn’t see Changmin’s face from where he was standing, but by the tone of Changmin’s voice he sounded upset. “I don’t want to get married,” the prince told her.

“You can’t talk your way out of this one, Changmin,” she said gently. “Not this time. I need you to have sons to secure the family line and I need you to do it soon so I can marry your sisters off. Now, here’s a list of the people I sent letters to.” She slid the parchment over to her son.

He read it for a moment, then said, “You sent word out to the north.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that was wise?”

The queen’s eyes slid away. “I’m not sure. I thought I’d better give you the option in case we needed it. What do you think?”

Prince Changmin bowed his head and said quietly, “What does father think?”

The queen looked away completely. “I haven’t gotten word from him for a while,” she said.

There was silence.

Then Prince Changmin turned halfway in his seat. Without looking at Yunho properly, he said, “Sir knight, you are dismissed until after dinner.”

Yunho bowed. “Yes, sire,” then left the room with great reluctance, the heavy doors closing behind him.

*

 

Yunho walked to the barracks on legs that did not feel as if they were his own.

So Prince Changmin was getting married.

Yunho’s heart sank.

He entered the empty barracks and sat on his bed, then rubbed his knees. Taemin poked his head in. “Yunho-hyung! Are you alright? You looked like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ah, yeah,” Yunho said shakily, forcing out a laugh. “I just heard some interesting news.”

Taemin slunk in to the room proper, hands behind his back. He came close, shimmying in between Yunho’s legs. “What news?” he said lowly, face close.

“Something private,” Yunho said apologetically. “But I’m sure everyone will find out eventually.”

“Then it doesn’t matter, does it?” said Taemin. He pushed his fingers through Yunho’s fringe, then let his fingers travel down to his chest.

“No,” Yunho exhaled, “I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“Good,” said Taemin, then straddled Yunho’s thighs and kissed him. Yunho caressed the boy’s cheek, then used the leverage to gently pull their mouths away from each other.

“Listen, Taemin – “

“I missed you,” said Taemin, “and I want to be with you.”

Yunho blinked up at him. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“And I’m thirty-one,” Yunho told him. “I think I’m way too old for you.”

Taemin kissed him again, grinding down onto Yunho’s lap, making Yunho exhale shakily. “I don’t care.”

“I’d better go to the mess hall – “

Taemin kissed him again, forcefully –

Yunho pulled his mouth away again. “Don’t you have dinner?”

“No, I eat with the servants in the kitchen after the chores are done. Why are you playing hard-to-get?”

“Ah, I’m afraid someone will come in.”

“The knights are all in the mess hall, as you know.”

“Where I should be,” said Yunho. He grabbed Taemin under the armpits, picking him up as they straightened.

Taemin ran his hands up Yunho’s arms. “You’re so big and strong,” he murmured appreciatively.

Yunho tapped him on the nose. “Go help with dinner.”

Taemin pouted, then got on tiptoes and whispered in Yunho’s ear, “Let’s go somewhere private next time.” Then like a butterfly, he flitted off.


	6. Set Fire to the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanart: [map of the Southern Continent](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/dentedsky/1421597/2654/2654_original.jpg) by StrawHat.

Prince Changmin smoothed his hands over the large leather map of the known world. He and Yunho both looked down at it.

They were in the library. The prince said, “How about I test you?”

“If it brings you pleasure, sire,” said Yunho.

“For every country I point to, name it, its capital, its element and its god.” Prince Changmin then pointed to Hamsa in the centre of the southern continent.

“Hamsa, Gwanju, fire, Mother Nature.”

“Well done,” said Prince Changmin. He pointed again, to the left of Hamsa.

“Misra, d’Ys, water, Leviathan.”

He pointed to the island west of Misra.

“Kirin Island, Valhalla, teleportation, Death.”

He pointed to the east of Hamsa.

“Duidain, Palmyra, wind, Pandemona.”

Pointed to the north of Duidain.

“Drasil, Petra, earth, Mother Nature.”

Pointed to the islands north of Drasil.

“Para Isles, La Ciudad Blanca, telekinesis, Mother Nature.”

Pointed to the north of Misra.

Yunho hesitated. “Harbin, ice, Shiva. I don’t know their capital.”

“Tsk tsk,” Prince Changmin teased. Then he said, “They don’t have one; the closest thing to it is Teyuna, a hall made completely of black ice. Their culture is completely different to ours.”

“Only women are allowed into their country.”

“Yes, good for us of course,” said Prince Changmin as he leaned his hip against the table casually. “No army can travel from the north over the sea and through the ice to Misra.

“So how will they travel here?” Yunho asked blithely. “Assuming they will march over land and sea to wage war.”

Although he kept his lounging stance, Prince Changmin tensed, his smirk fading into a frown. “They may come over the Para Isles where they have allies, then march through the forests of Duidain. If they can make it through the deep horrors of the rainforest in those lands then they would truly be a formidable foe.”

“And if _you_ were to wage war?”

Prince Changmin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “My father is in the north trying to prevent such a thing.”

“But what if you were king?”

Prince Changmin did not answer right away. He tapped his fingers against his arm restlessly, thinking deeply, watching Yunho with unseeing eyes. “You know what?” he said eventually. “No one has ever asked me that before.”

He turned away from the table and took two steps then stopped, staring out the stain glass window. It was raining outside. “My ancestors already conquered this whole continent; before, all the countries were constantly at war. Through blood and sweat and death the southern continent came to be united under one great king.”

“I know,” said Yunho. “My ancestors sided with yours against Duidain at one point.”

The prince turned to look at him. “Do you resent it?”

“Resent what?”

“Being my property? You could inherit Hamsa any moment, you know, but if I want to keep you here you have to stay.”

Yunho smiled at him softly. Prince Changmin was clearly well-educated and mannered, but he yet to learn all the subtleties of the different interactions and relationships one could have in a lifetime. “You are my prince,” Yunho told him sincerely. “I will always stay by your side.”

Prince Changmin stared at Yunho with wide eyes and parted lips. They seemed to share something in that moment.

Minho walked into the room. “I’ve set up morning tea on the veranda, my lords.” He bowed then gestured towards the archway exit.

Prince Changmin tore his eyes away from Yunho’s. “About time, I’m starving.”

Outside, as Yunho was sitting down at the table, Minho slipped a note into Yunho’s pocket.

 

*

That evening, Prince Changmin slid the collar of his robe down his bare shoulders, exposing his skin. He sat on his four poster bed, legs curled under him, with his back to Yunho. He looked over his shoulder almost demurely and said softly, “You have a gift for massage. I’ve decided to have you massage my back before I sleep tonight.”

Something in the prince’s voice commanded reverence in Yunho, and Yunho bowed low. “Yes, sire.”

The fire burned in its grate, flickering shadows across Prince Changmin’s smooth brown skin as he lowered more of the robe. “Good,” he said. “Take off your boots and gloves and come to me.”

Yunho did as he was told, slowly so to be quiet within the hush of the room. The prince lounged against his furs and pillows as Yunho rounded the four-poster bed. Prince Changmin gestured to the oil on the night stand – the one Yunho had chosen that day at market – and Yunho took it, allowed a liberal amount to drip out and massaged it into his own hands. He glanced at Prince Changmin subtly. The prince was watching.

When Yunho placed one knee on the bed, Prince Changmin stretched out on his front, robe now fallen into layers at the small of his back. In hesitation Yunho dribbled out more oil onto his palm, then leant over the prince’s warm body and placed his hands on his skin.

Prince Changmin let out a lengthy exhale, as if he had been holding his breath. Yunho carefully smoothed the oil over his back – up from the centre of his spine and over his shoulders, before running his fingers back down to the dip that was the small of his back. Yunho made sure to apply firm but gentle pressure, massaging the oil into his prince’s skin.

Prince Changmin’s breathing was getting heavier, and whenever Yunho’s hands approached his lower back, he would tense, jolting a little, then relax.

“Are you particularly sore here, sire?” Yunho asked as he applied a little extra pressure.

Prince Changmin jolted again. “Yes.” He squirmed. “Don’t be shy. Come closer, and make it harder.”

“Yes, sire. “ Yunho hesitated, before swinging his leg over Prince Changmin, straddling his thighs. He swallowed. “Is this alright?”

Prince Changmin swallowed thickly, dragging his face over the pillow as if wiping his mouth. Yunho could not see his expression. “Yes, it’s fine. Now put your hands on me once more.”

Yunho did as he was told, kneading flesh. Prince Changmin turned his face to the side again, and gasped out, “Harder,” then let out a quiet moan when Yunho dug his thumbs deep into the flesh of his shoulders.

Yunho’s hands gradually made their way down again. He pulled the robe down a little ways to get better access to where back met the curve of Prince Changmin’s backside, dug his fingers –

The prince jolted violently with a yelp, but didn’t sit up or turn over.

“I’m sorry – “ Yunho began.

“Keep going,” the prince gasped out, pulling the pillow out from under his own head and leaning his forehead on the mattress itself. “Don’t stop.”

Yunho massaged the prince’s lower back and hips once more, applying firm pressure, while the prince’s gasps and moans increased in volume, and his body made abrupt, stilted movements. The prince closed his eyes tight, fisting the furs – then his hips jolted upward, pressing his backside against Yunho’s crotch –

Yunho practically flew away from the prince and his bed. He stood at the foot, turning away, heat rushing to his face and making his cheeks hot with embarrassment…

Prince Changmin – Yunho’s charge – had turned Yunho on. The movement of Changmin’s body against Yunho’s had caused Yunho’s member to harden, and tent his leather slacks.

After a moment of dead silence in the room, Yunho looked over his shoulder. Prince Changmin had pushed himself up into a half-seating position, leaning on his hands. His robes were off his shoulders, exposing tanned skin, and his face –

He was glaring so hard that if he had been a fire elemental, the room would have been on fire by now. As it was, the room’s temperature changed with the sudden humidity of the air.

Prince Changmin bared his clenched teeth at Yunho. “You may not like it,” he gritted out angrily, “you may even find it disgusting to touch me – “ He bit the sentence off then ripped his eyes away from Yunho’s to glare at the wall. “But this is your duty – “

“My duty is to protect you,” Yunho said quietly, voice wobbling as he kept his body turned away to hide his arousal.

“We’re not finished,” said the prince. “Continue!”

“I cannot – “

“That is an order!”

Yunho looked away. He breathed several deep breaths. With a rustle of clothing on bed furs, Prince Changmin turned onto his front once more. Then lay there, waiting.

Yunho approached him warily. From their positions, Prince Changmin would not be able to see his embarrassing predicament, but if he straddled him again he’d be able to feel it. Yunho set his hands on the prince, and pressed in. The prince moaned quietly, almost shamefully. After a moment, Prince Changmin said, almost as a whisper, “You may go.”

 

*

Yunho lay in his bunk, arm slung over his eyes. _Fuck_ , he thought to himself. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck - !_

With his other hand he slowly touched himself under the blankets. Sleeping in a barrack full of men meant he had to be as quiet as possible. And that meant going torturously slow… He didn’t want to come, not _really_ -

There was a good thing coming tonight at least. The note Minho had slipped him at lunch had been from Taemin, telling him to meet him at one of the barns near the horse stables, in the middle of the night.

Yunho waited until the right time, then carefully slipped out the barracks. As far as he was aware, he had not woken any of the knights up upon exiting, and swiftly in the dark, he went to his rendezvous.

He entered the dark barn.

“Psst!” someone – Taemin – hissed from a loft above. Yunho hesitated, then climbed the ladder where Taemin was waiting, sitting on hay with his legs curled under him. Although dark, Yunho could tell he was grinning.

“Good evening,” whispered Yunho.

“Hi!” said Taemin. “I was almost afraid you wouldn’t come.” He giggled nervously.

Yunho let out a short, depreciating laugh. “Well, I’m here.”

“You are here,” Taemin whispered, leaning in. They kissed, Taemin’s lips soft and warm against Yunho’s – and then spurred on by the arousal still boiling low in his belly, Yunho slipped his tongue into Taemin’s mouth continued the kiss aggressively, possessively holding on to the younger man, running his hands all over his body.

To Yunho, Taemin felt smaller than he looked, and the difference between him and Prince Changmin was startling in this way. Yunho kept his own eyes shut tight, and fumbled around for the laces of Taemin’s trousers. He pulled the laces free, then pulled the trousers down to below Taemin’s knees. Taemin made a noise of surprise, followed be a hum of appreciation. He did it again when Yunho hastily pulled his own trousers down and then lay Taemin flat on the hay. He hastily rubbed their sex together. Yunho, now lying between Taemin’s thighs, undulated his hips, buried his face in his neck, and groaned. This is what he needed – hot flesh against hot flesh –

The image of Prince Changmin lying half-naked against soft animal fur had never left his mind the whole evening, but now it came strong and unbidden to the surface. “Kiss me,” Taemin said, and then Yunho repeated it in his mind, only it was Prince Changmin saying it. And then Yunho was pushing his fingers through Taemin’s hair, and was kissing him roughly, and knew that kissing Prince Changmin would not be quite like this – but it was close enough –

And he would never get that chance.

Taemin pulled away from Yunho’s suffocating kisses, exposing his throat as he gasped for air. Although it was dark, Yunho’s eyes had adjusted enough to see the boy under him – and in a moment of weakness, he covered Taemin’s eyes with his hand and leaned down for another kiss, and pretended it was Prince Changmin’s mouth under his own. With the image of Changmin curled on the fur strewn bed, naked aside from a misshapen robe barely covering his modesty, Yunho moaned, close to coming.

From below the loft, someone cleared their throat.

Yunho sat up abruptly. Taemin did the same only slowly and in a daze, and Yunho leaned over the edge and looked down.

A man stood there, staring up at him, his face cast in shadow. He said, “My apologies for interrupting, Sir Yunho,” and Yunho realised it was Kyuhyun. There was something deep and formal about his tone, and without an expression for Yunho to see, Kyuhyun’s mood and intentions were unclear.

“Um,” Yunho said into the silence that followed, as he ducked to untangle himself from Taemin’s legs. “Is there… a reason you’re here?”

A pause. Then Kyuhyun said, “Please come down, sir knight.”

With sad finality Yunho pulled up his trousers and tucked himself back in, drawing the strings and tying them. He came down the ladder.

Kyuhyun addressed Taemin with a disapproving tone: “Go back to your quarters.”

Taemin still hadn’t come down. He leaned over the edge, one hand gripping the ladder. “This isn’t fair!” he griped in a stage whisper. “Why’d you have to interrupt us for!”

“Go back to your quarters and don’t take any detours,” Kyuhyun commanded. Then he grabbed Yunho’s arm and steered him away and out of the barn, into the frigid cold of night.

“Let go of my arm,” said Yunho lowly.

Kyuhyun did, but they didn’t stop their rapid pace away from the barn. “My apologies, hyung.”

“So you’ve said, but you haven’t explained why you felt the need to interrupt something private of mine – “ Yunho grabbed Kyuhyun’s arm and stopped him. They stood in one of the castle’s water gardens, face to face. Yunho looked him straight in the eye with challenge. “Last I checked that form of deviant behaviour was not illegal in Misra.”

“Not illegal for normal people,” explained Kyuhyun, a warning in his voice. “But you are the crown prince’s dark knight, and the rules are different for you. For us.” He gave Yunho a fleeting, pitying look. “I tried to warn you about high born politics, hyung; it wasn’t an offhand remark. There are spies everywhere, and every action you take has consequences.”

Sex was a complicated thing, Yunho conceded as he looked to the side and gazed at a water fountain. Codfish slept in the pond below. “What kind of consequences.”

Kyuhyun hesitated. “Consequences for Taemin,” he said quietly.

Yunho looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Kyuhyun didn’t answer, and after a moment he said, “Let’s keep going. Leeteuk was awake and saw me leave, and I told him I was taking you to see the royal physician.”

They started walking again. “Can’t we just go back?”

“We may as well visit the physician’s rooms to give our alibi more credence,” said Kyuhyun.

“Won’t he be asleep?”

Kyuhyun smirked. “Probably not.”


	7. Everything that Drowns Me Makes Me Want to Fly

Yunho awoke in a foreign bed to the sounds of glass clinking together and scraping over wood. He shot up into a sitting position. “The prince!” he shouted, still sleep-addled mouth slurring his words a little.

Then he recognised the bed, and the room. It was Lay’s rooms, and oh, that’s right –

Last night, after he had caught Yunho and Taemin together, Sir Kyuhyun had dragged Yunho to see the court physician. “Sir Yunho is suffering night terrors!” Kyuhyun had told Lay gleefully. Lay had blinked at them blearily, then stepped away from the potion he had been stirring and shuffled off to his cabinet. He procured a sleeping drought and passed it to Yunho.

“Drink this, sir knight. Yes the whole thing, and rest your head on one of the patient cots...”

Now it was no longer the middle of the night, but broad daylight, and someone who was not Lay was rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Yunho ran a hand through his hair then rubbed his eyes to wake himself further. “I slept like the dead.”

“No doubt,” said the man as he poked his head around the door of the cabinet. It was Jonghyun, the raven-haired assassin. “I’d say that weird man gave you a huge dose of sleeping potion and no amount of banging drums would have woken you.” He turned his attention back to the cabinet and muttered to himself, “Where is it, where could it be...”

Yunho swung his legs over the side of the bed and peered outside the room’s only window. “It looks bright outside; is it only morning?”

“It’s almost noon,” came Jonghyun’s muffled reply.

“Gods, fuck!” Yunho shouted as he shot out of bed and looked around the room. His light armour was hanging off a chair back near the fireplace; he ran over and hastened to put it on. “By the phoenix and the dragon and all the other merciless gods – why didn’t you wake me?”

“Why would I wake the only other occupant of the room when I’m trying to steal things?” Jonghyun quipped. “AHA! Oh joy of joys, I have found it!” He pulled away from the cabinet and brandished a small vile of dark blue liquid for Yunho to see.

“I thought you were an assassin, not a theif,” said Yunho.

“Squid ink taken from the Misran Sea. Lives only in reefs off the coast of Old Ys. Two drops in a cup of wine can kill a man without detection...” Jonghyun gazed at his find lovingly.

Yunho finished with the last buckle and then gave Jonghyun a hard look. “So long as it is not meant for my prince I don’t want to know.” He turned to leave.

“Not even if it was for you?” Jonghyun said silkily, quiet enough so Yunho could pretend he hadn’t heard. Yunho opened the door to leave –

“Oh by the way,” said Jonghyun, “at this time of day, His Highness won’t be in his chambers.”

Yunho paused upon exiting, and looked over his shoulder. “Oh?”

“He’d be having luncheon in the Garden of Prayers.”

 

*

The Garden of Prayers had a large stone monument of the goddess Leviathan in its centre. The great sea-snake monster towered over a clear fresh water pond, her great jaws gaping open to admit water. As Yunho turned the corner, he saw Prince Changmin stand under her, in the water –

No, he stood _on_ the water.

With eyes closed and hands together, Prince Changmin prayed, then he slowly and elegantly spread his arms, pointed one toe, and danced.

The blue silk sleeves rippled beautifully with each movement and arc of his arms. He twisted and turned – and then the water of the pond splashed up in long strings, by his side, then in turn all around the statue of the Misran goddess. Changmin’s expression was of blissful concentration. It was the most beautiful sight Yunho had ever beheld, and he stood rooted to the spot, taking it all in. So mesmerised was he that he hadn’t even noticed he was in the presence of Princesses Sooyeon and Jiyeon, who were sitting at a stone table under the shade of a cherry blossom some metres away.

They were staring at Yunho openly. Then Jiyeon held out a dainty hand and gave a slight come-hither gesture.

“Changmin-oppa is doing his morning prayers,” she said. “Please, have a seat.”

Yunho, unsure as to whether he was allowed to sit with royalty for meals, hesitated, before coming over and sitting at the table.

“Don’t worry,” said Sooyeon, her voice and eyes less flirtatious than Jiyeon’s, “we insist you join us for luncheon. Besides, if Hamsa had been a monarchy, you would be a prince, too.”

Jiyeon’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s right! You are practically a crown prince. Isn’t that right, Changmin-oppa?” she added to Prince Changmin, over Yunho’s shoulder.

Yunho stood from his chair abruptly, making it skid ungracefully, before turning to the prince, who was out of the water and right behind him. “Sire! I apologise for being so incredibly late...”

The prince was smiling, his eyes almost soft. “You needn’t worry, Sir Yunho, Sir Kyuhyun told me everything.”

That pulled Yunho up short. “E – Everything?”

Prince Changmin’s smile widened, but there was a sinister curl to the edge of his mouth. “Yes. That you were feeling ill during the night, so he took you to see Lay.”

“Ah,” Yunho sighed. “Yes.”

“I trust you’re feeling better?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Good. Let’s sit; I’m sure food is on its way.”

Yunho pulled out and pushed in the chair for his prince, and then sat down next to him.

“I suppose we ought to talk about your upcoming nuptials, oppa,” said Sooyeon blandly as she smoothed her fingers over her napkin.

Prince Changmin looked bored already. “What ever for.”

“Well what else is there to talk about while we wait for our meal?”

Jiyeon leaned forward excitedly. “I’m so excited,” she gushed. “Aren’t you excited too, Sir Yunho?”

Yunho tensed, his eyes sliding to the prince and back to the princess. “Yes indeed, princess.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” Sooyeon snapped. Her and Changmin wore equally stormy expressions. “Once oppa and I are married off, so too will you.”

Jiyeon smirked at her sister. “Unlike you, _I’m_ looking forward to my marriage. I’m going marry Sir Yunho.”

Changmin’s head snapped around to glare at her with fiery eyes. “You most certainly are _not_ \- !”

His expression was mirrored in her own. “Why not? He’s practically a prince, and will inherit a whole country one day - !”

Changmin huffed. “There is no way I’m letting you marry _my_ Dark Knight – “

“Ahem!” coughed a new person. Minho and Kibum were standing near the table, balancing trays in their hands. While Princess Jiyeon and Prince Changmin were leaning over the table, glaring at one another, Princess Sooyeon and Yunho were doing the opposite, leaning right back and away.

Without prompting, Minho practically tossed Prince Changmin’s plate right in front of him. It was a wonder it didn’t break. Then he gracefully gave the princesses their meals, while Kibum organised the drinks.

Prince Changmin took a deep breath to calm himself. “Minho, my knight requires luncheon as well.”

Mouth set in a hard line, Minho didn’t look at the prince. “I wasn’t informed he’d be joining you.”

“Just get him something,” the prince gritted out through clenched teeth. Minho rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchens, stomping his feet.

After Kibum too had left, Sooyeon said, “If I had a servant like that, I’d have them flayed.”

Prince Changmin looked regretful. “He means well, but I have betrayed him.”

“In what way?” asked Jiyeon.

“Even so,” Sooyeon cut in, “a servant who does not respect you is not worth having, in my opinion.”

The prince glared at her. “Luckily I’m not asking for your opinion.”

Minho came back with a plate of food for Yunho. He threw it onto the table like he had Prince Changmin’s, then abruptly left without being dismissed. “I don’t...” said Yunho, “understand.”

“He’s just angry at me,” said Prince Changmin. “Let him be and he’ll simmer down.”

“Why is he angry at you?” Princess Jiyeon asked.

Again, she was ignored. “So, marriage,” Prince Changmin said, abruptly changing the subject. “Who have you got your eye on Soo? Or should I ask – who has Mother chosen for you?”

“No one,” she said; “Mother is concentrating her efforts on you at present. But...” Here she fingered a cherry on her plate. “I want to travel the world, and not live in Misra. So,” she added with a burgeoning blush, “ _I_ shall marry Sir Yunho.”

“Noooooo!” Jiyeon screamed just as Changmin shouted, “No you WON’T!”

“Well who else is there? Prince Kyungsoo who is rumoured to lie with men, or Prince Sehun of Duidain who is practically a child, or the hidden prince who shuts himself away in Valhalla, whose very name is just rumours on the wind?”

“I want to marry Sir Yunho,” Jiyeon pressed. “I don’t want to travel the world, I want to stay here in d’Ys, and since Sir Yunho is oppa’s Dark Knight... then, then I can stay,” she finished miserably. “Besides,” she added, after a small embarrassed silence around the table, “he’s kind, and handsome.” She gave him a soft, longing look.

A pause. Yunho looked away from her.

“I said no,” said Prince Changmin with finality.

 

*

Yunho followed Prince Changmin back to his chambers, the uncomfortable silence following them like a shadow. Yunho held the door open for him, and then when they were both securely inside, Prince Changmin told Yunho, “I have a surprise for you. Three surprises, in fact.”

“I’m... honoured, sire.”

The prince studied him a moment, before turning away and heading towards the far right side of the room. There used to be just space there that contained a two clothes baskets and a small loveseat, but those had been cleared away and the area cleaned. Now a comfortable looking pallet lay there next to some candle sticks, and upon the blankets and furs there was a long box. A sword box.

Yunho stepped closer hesitantly, then looked over his shoulder at his prince. “For me?” he asked.

Prince Changmin’s mouth moved as if he were trying to hide a smile. “Yes. From now on you will live here, with me in my chambers where you can best protect me at night.”

“Unless we’re in crowds, assassins are less likely to attack during the day,” Yunho agreed. He went over to the box, kneeled in front of it, then ran his fingers over the plain woodwork.

“Open it,” said Prince Changmin. Slowly and reverently Yunho flicked the latch and slid the cover off. Inside was a double edged sword of dazzlingly shiny steel lacquered with Duidian glass and a wrought iron handle and hilt inlaid with swirling gold decoration. Yunho recognised the design as similar to the hair comb’s Prince Changmin bought that day at the market.

Forget-me-nots.

Yunho swung the sword up and inspected it closely, flicking his thumb over one edge. “She’s beautiful, sire,” Yunho told him honestly. “I am very grateful.”

Prince Changmin held his hand out to Yunho, who was still on his knees, and Yunho placed the sword in Changmin’s hand. Prince Changmin took it and with prince and knight facing one another, Prince Changmin rested the flat of the sword on Yunho’s right shoulder. “My third gift to you,” said the prince, “is to make you a voice on the royal council.”

Yunho stared up at Prince Changmin. “I am very grateful, sire... But I feel this is too much – “

“Don’t,” Changmin told him. “I’m promoting you for entirely selfish reasons. Rise.”

As Yunho did as he was told, the prince pulled from his pocket a gold brooch. It was carved with the sea goddess Leviathan, her long scaly snake-like body curled in on herself. Prince Changmin handed it over and Yunho cradled it gently, smoothing his thumb over the goddess's little body.

“...I need more allies on the council,” Prince Changmin told him quietly. They stood close; the prince watched Yunho’s face with a shuttered gaze. “Sir Ryeowook is on my side, but unfortunately he is the scribe and must write accurate notes or risk his employment and reputation.”

“Is your mother Her Majesty the Queen not your ally?”

Prince Changmin’s smiled with irony. “She chairs the meetings. If it were up to me I would never marry. If it were up to her I’d marry tomorrow. I need you to vote for the things that I vote for and agree to the suggestions I put forth.”

Yunho nodded. “Then I am on your side, sire.”

Prince Changmin reached out and touched Yunho’s arm in thanks, rubbing his palm up and down his bicep before moving away.

 

*

It was only that night when Yunho heard the latch on the window creak. Laying on his pallet, his eyes snapped open, and he froze his body and his breath.

The squeak of the latch was heard again, and then Yunho heard the click as it was undone completely. With feline stealth, he crawled from his blankets and over the floor to Prince Changmin’s bedside, then carefully, half-feeling his way in the dark, he crawled up the bed and over the covers. And over the prince.

Prince Changmin’s drift into wakefulness was a lot smoother than Yunho’s. With a sweep of lashes his eyes fluttered open; and his eyes, shiny in the dark like gems, looked straight up into Yunho’s. He slowly pulled his hand from where it rested on the blankets and brought it up to touch Yunho’s face gently.

Yunho paused a moment as he lost his bearing. The prince’s fingers were cool but soft and gentle, and his expression was open and admiring, lips wet and quivering. Yunho swallowed, then remembered why he was there, and put a finger to his own lips with a flick of his gaze to the window across the room.

Prince Changmin blinked several times and they both looked.

Though the window was slightly open, there was no shadow of a person. The moon cast its bright light upon the paper and quill strewn desk. Slowly, but with great strength, Yunho pushed his hands under Prince Changmin, who naturally lifted his back up in an arch. Now Prince Changmin was effectively wrapped in his own blankets; and with a rustle, Yunho pulled him into his arms, braced himself for impact, and rolled them off the bed. Yunho let out a hard, quiet exhale as he landed on his back with Changmin on top of him.

Yunho rolled them over again so Prince Changmin was underneath his body and protected from attack. Arms loose around Yunho’s shoulders, the prince arched into him, and breathed shakily from his nose. They looked into each other’s eyes, and Yunho saw fear there, so he tried to convey that it was fine, that he got this, that he would always protect his prince no matter what –

There was the small sound of the window opening further and then of a body moving. It reminded Yunho suddenly of the last time he had kept Prince Changmin close for protection: of ninja’s running up the walls of Yunho’s house with barely a rustle...

Yunho slid his hand over the floor and over the handle of his sword, which was hidden under his pallet. He would have preferred his dagger but it was under his pillow and a little too out of reach. With one last silent message of courage between their gazes, Yunho slid from Changmin’s embrace and over and around the bed –

In a blink of an eye Yunho’s sword was near the third man’s throat – a tall, dark haired man of lithe build – only to be deflected by a razor edged arm-guard in defence. Yunho got ready to counter –

“Wait,” Prince Changmin commanded, his voice cutting through the tense silence like a knife. He was standing.

Both Yunho and the man withdrew and stood to attention. Prince Changmin picked up a candle and Yunho came over and lit it with a touch of one fingertip. In the sparse light, the stranger in the room unwound the material covering his face. It was Jonghyun, the assassin.

“You keep your dark knight in your rooms, now?” Jonghyun inquired.

“Do you really think you should speak to me so informally when it’s the middle of the night and I should be _asleep?_ ” Prince Changmin shot back icily.

Jonghyun pulled himself up. “I’m back from scouting, and I came straight to you, like you asked.” He glanced at Yunho with some constrained curiosity. “Why is Sir Yunho here?”

Prince Changmin levelled him a look and refused to answer. “What have you got for me?” he asked eventually, as he crawled back into bed.

“I sent a pair of eyes south-east. The...” Jonghyun hesitated with a glance at Yunho, “ _person_ you had me watch today is well on their way to their destination.”

“Good,” said Prince Changmin as he smoothed his hands over his furs and blankets. “And the congregations?”

“I’m sure the royal scouts will tell you this in the morning,” said Jonghyun, “but two parties are heading to the city and will all arrive around the same time, no later than one week’s time. And yes, it appears that Her Majesty the Queen has invited the High Priestesses of Harbin.”

Yunho blinked. Prince Changmin’s expression was shuttered. For as long as he could remember, Yunho had known that Harbin citizens did not marry. So why were they invited to bid for Prince Changmin’s hand in marriage, and why would they respond an affirmation to that invitation?

“I hear whispers, sire,” said Jonghyun. “I hear whispers that all nine of priestesses of Teyuna Temple are planning to travel to d’Ys.”

“All nine...” said Prince Changmin quietly. “So _she_ is coming.”

Jonghyun tilted his chin down. “Yes, sire.”


	8. I Change the World to Make You See Me

Prince Changmin summoned water into the bathtub. It took a moment to fill, and when he was done, he smiled at Yunho smugly and gestured to him.

Yunho took the hint, went over to the tub, dipped his hands in the water and summoned fire. It took a lot longer for the large amount of water to heat up.

“I think this is the best part of our sleeping arrangements,” said the prince conversationally. “And I’m sure the servants are glad that they don’t have to keep heating buckets of water on the fire.”

The prince and Yunho looked to Minho and Kibum, who were both in the room doing chores. Minho was tending to the fireplace and Kibum was sweeping around Yunho’s bed.

Yunho took his hands from the water when he felt it was hot enough for Prince Changmin to enjoy. The prince gestured to Minho and the manservant came over to undress his master. Yunho averted his eyes. After a moment, he heard the splish-splash of water as Prince Changmin stepped into his bath. “It’s nice,” Prince Changmin commented. Yunho turned to him. The prince’s legs were together, knees poking from the water’s surface. “But perhaps not quite hot enough. Please warm it more.”

Yunho went over to the side and carefully put his hands back in, then summoned fire to heat the water. “Oh,” the prince moaned appreciatively, “that’s nice.” He titled his head back, exposing his throat, adam’s apple bobbing gently with a swallow. Yunho looked away from it, and tried his best not to look at the rest of Prince Changmin’s naked body, either. He caught Minho’s eye instead. The servant was still in a bad mood, though he had not acted on it that morning so far. He looked as if he really would like to roll his eyes, but was resisting.

“Alright,” Prince Changmin said, tilting his chin back to his chest. Yunho pulled his hands out of the water, but before he could move away, the prince grabbed his wrist and looked up into Yunho’s face. “I know you have training this morning,” said Prince Changmin, “but before you go, I have a request of you.”

The water made Prince Changmin’s grip slippery, and Yunho felt his stomach drop as the prince’s palm moved a little over Yunho’s pulse point. “Ask anything of me, sire,” said Yunho quietly, “and it is yours.”

Prince Changmin’s pupils were blown wide, making his gaze seem both intense and dark. He looked down at his own hand on Yunho’s wrist and flexed his fingers. When he next spoke, his voice was light, as if he were about to make a joke. “That’s very tempting. But I just wish for us to use informal language in the privacy of our room.” With a fluttering of long, black lashes, he looked up into Yunho’s eyes again. “Hyung.”

Yunho swallowed hard, and flicked his eyes away from the prince’s gaze. “I am honoured, sire.”

“Changmin,” corrected the prince.

“I am honoured... Changmin.”

Changmin’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “I never thought I’d want an older brother, but then I realised: you’re older than me and always looking after me. And we’re friends, right?”

“Yes, s-Changmin.”

“Good,” he said, abruptly letting go of Yunho’s wrist and plonking his hand back into the water.

*

Yunho returned to the armoury once the sun was high in the sky and his stomach was starting to grumble for lunch. He pulled off his gauntlet and then fiddled one-handed with his vambrace. Kibum, who was in the armoury polishing a breastplate, tentatively came over and asked if Yunho needed help.

“Please,” Yunho affirmed. The servant unbuckled the vambrace with expert fingers. “Usually Taemin would do this for me; have you seen him around by any chance?”

Kibum’s face changed subtly, eyes blinking as he moved over to the other vambrace. “Yes sir. He no longer works at this castle, sir.”

“Pardon?” said Yunho in alarm as Kibum moved to Yunho’s side to unbuckle his bevor. “But I only saw him two nights ago – “

Yunho bit off his words. Kibum paused a moment, then continued the removal of Yunho’s armour.

“What happened?” Yunho asked, gently. He heard Kibum suck in a breath.

“I’m not sure,” the servant said quietly.

Yunho spun around and stared down at him. “You can tell me.”

A little while later, Yunho was back to being clothed in light leathers, and was striding up the stairs and down the corridor to the library. He found Changmin in the history section, running his fingers over the spines of old books as he read their titles. He glanced over his shoulder at Yunho, smiling, before his smile slid off his face when he saw Yunho’s thunderous expression. He turned back to the shelves.

“You had Taemin sent away,” said Yunho.

Changmin hummed long, neither a yes nor a no, but rather as if he were thinking. Yunho wanted to see his face, to watch his expression change as he quickly thought up lies to tell.

“Did you make him leave d’Ys because of me?” Yunho asked. He remembered Kyuhyun then, of his warnings hush and dark in the night.

Changmin let out a short, deep laugh. He turned to Yunho, smirking. “Did you hear that from Minho?” When Yunho clenched his jaw and didn’t answer, Changmin levelled him with a narrow-eyed, yet amused, look. “Minho seems to think that I did it out of spite, but I assure you, I have no feelings towards servants.” He lifted his chin. Yunho crossed his arms. Changmin explained, “The boy’s second cousin twice removed is Lord Lee of Crosstone, a town south-east from here. The only reason Taemin was a servant of d’Ys was so that he could learn the skills needed to service his lord to the high standard he demands, as previous servants of Lord Lee were not of his kin and, according to him, sloppy at best and thieves at worst.

“So you see, hyung, the boy’s employ in the castle was always temporary. We trained him in both servitude and squire in order to keep diplomacy with that region. But his time was up.

“And in future, I hope you come to me with your concerns rather than listen to the gossip of servants and smallfolk.”

“Yes sire, I apologise, sire...” Yunho, feeling wretched at ever doubting his prince and future king, got down on one knee and bowed his head. “Please forgive my indiscretion, sire – “

“Get up.”

Yunho did, head still bowed. Changmin tilted his head to the side, trying to catch Yunho’s eye.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me by my first name?”

“Yes sire, in the privacy of our room, sire.”

Changmin conceded the point with a small nod. “We’re alone in the library, now.”

Yunho lifted his head a little.

Changmin pouted. “Stop looking so admonished, hyung. It hurts to see you this way.” He gave Yunho a small smile, which Yunho tentatively returned. Then Changmin straightened his back and changed the subject. “I’m researching Harbin’s history. How about I choose a book, and we sit together and you can read it to me?”

Yunho smiled and nodded. “Changmin, it would be my pleasure.”

* * *

Windows washed, corridors swept, flowers changed, tapestries dusted, new carpets rolled out, tables wiped, meat dried, wines imported, grains stocked, suits of armour polished, knights trained, vines trimmed, fountains scrubbed.

Lady Boa of Kirin Island, Princess Victoria of the Thunder Plains and the nine High Priestesses of Harbin would all be arriving tomorrow to vie for Prince Changmin of Misra’s hand in marriage.

Yunho had tried and tried not to think about it, about what it meant for him and what it meant for their friendship. He frowned, and stared down at his bare knees poking out of the water.

“What are you so miserable about?” said Changmin from his desk, quill paused on parchment. “You’re not the one who has to marry some woman he’s never met and then be forced to bed her and listen to her suggestions on how to run _his own_ country for the rest of his life.”

“Her Majesty the Queen’s suggestions are good,” said Yunho loyally, shifting slightly in the bathtub.

Changmin gave him a disbelieving look. “Do you honestly think that after she invited a Mandarin princess here? Either Princess Victoria is going to spy or she’s going to kill me so either way I’m going to need you close to me these next few days.”

Yunho blinked. He didn’t really know how much physically closer to Changmin he could possibly get – although in his imagination he supposed he _could_ -

Crush that thought.

Yunho would have to forego training with the knights for the next few days while he closely guarded Changmin, that much was clear.

“Come,” said Changmin, standing from his seat, “we are due in court where we can discuss it further. Oh joy of joys.”

Yunho waited until Changmin’s back was turned before he stood up in the tub with a splash, water sleuthing pleasurably down his naked belly and thighs.

*

The turrets were made of hard grey stone stacked together tightly. Prince Changmin stood at the peak of his castle overlooking the high town’s square and the main gate. Beyond the gate, in the distance, Yunho could see the rolling hills and the procession of people coming over the crest. He stepped forward towards Changmin, who was singing beautifully and quietly to himself:

 _”Upon this rock_  
“I’ll build my kingdom  
“And on this rock  
“Forever and ever it shall stand...”

“That’s beautiful,” Yunho said quietly as he approached. “You know the old language?”

Changmin turned towards him, fingers lazily grazing the stone ledge. “I was tutored in it as a child, yes.” He huffed. “Such a useless, dead language, used in the days when men worshiped only one god. When my ancestors broke away and made Old Ys, the men came to burn the city. And then _She_ came, that snake-like water goddess, and drowned them all.”

Changmin had fallen into reverie, and now snapped out of it with a few blinks. “So, hyung.”

“Yes, sire?”

“Whom do you think I should take as my bride?” asked Changmin conversationally. He tapped his fingers. “Lady Boa, ‘The Lady of Death and Shadow’? Some say she’s a witch, a descendent of the old temple wasteland. Or do you think the ladies of Harbin will allow me one of theirs?”

“I doubt that very much, sire,” said Yunho. “They... are most likely on their pilgrimage of fertility and simply want to mate with you before your nuptials.”

Changmin smirked. “So tempting. And Lady Boa of Kirin Island? What do you think of her?”

Yunho’s eyes slid to the side and back as he thought. “May I speak openly with you, sire?”

“Always,” said Changmin.

“There are witches in Hamsa, who worship the Mother and make healing potions from flora. But witches who worship Death – if Lady Boa is indeed a witch – I’m distrustful of. However, as you have been advised by council, marrying her would help you to renew your ties with the southern lands you have not visited since you were a child - especially as Lady Boa holds a place in the court of Valhalla and has the Kirin Island king’s ear.”

Changmin looked serious now. “True. And yet marrying Princess Victoria of the Thunder Plains would secure me more land – land I don’t already own.” He was thinking out loud. “However, the Thunder Plains are just a wasteland with no real value to me except as a route to push armies through, if I wanted to do that in future.”

A part of Yunho went a little cold at these words, worried as he always was for Changmin’s life. But there was another part of him that burned hot with pride. “Or perhaps as a route to bring your father His Majesty the King home?”

Changmin smiled at Yunho and touched his arm, grateful.

Then Changmin said, “It is more than likely I will marry Lady Boa, not because of land, but to avoid an uproar against taboo, since Lady Boa has no elemental power. Citizens of Harbin don’t care about cross-Elemental breeding which is why they often try to mate with royalty; but some citizens of Misra shun the idea, and for me, a Water Elemental, to breed with Princess Victoria, a Lightning Elemental, may be seen as an ill omen more than a peace treaty.”

“Yes, sire.”

“And you?” Changmin asked him, blinking at him innocently with large brown eyes. “You have yet to give a definite opinion on the matter.”

Yunho hesitated. “I want what you want, sire.”

Changmin let out a small laugh. “I don’t want to get married at all.”

“Then,” said Yunho slowly, voice on the verge of breaking, “I don’t want you to get married either.”

Changmin’s expression became wide-eyed and serious. Yunho cleared his throat gently and swallowed.

“Sometimes...” Changmin said softly. “Sometimes I wonder – “

A loud horn sounded. Lady Boa’s party were almost at the gate to the city. Changmin turned away to look at the square below.

“Sire?” asked Yunho.

“Sometimes I wonder if I hear what I want to hear,” Changmin said.


	9. Grim Visitor and the Silence

Map fanart by Strawhat

*  


Prince Changmin and Yunho walked down the stone steps to join the Queen Mother on the second floor balcony. Lady Boa and her entourage were coming through the palace gates into the courtyard below, the whole black clothed order of them. Lady Boa was not to be seen, but Yunho presumed she was in the horse-drawn carriage.

All her men and women – knights, servants, clerks – were all dressed in black, robes cut in the traditional flowing style of the south. Changmin’s own knights stood aside to attention in the blue favoured by Leviathan Herself.

And then two male servants held open the black curtains of the carriage. In anticipation, Changmin stared unblinkingly, fingers curling against the stone ledge. 

Silence. And then, with the curdling screams of a thousand children, crows burst from the carriage, hundreds and hundreds of them. They flew in a whirlwind and screamed and twisted like a black sandstorm up and up and up to blacken the sky. A moment of darkness like night time without stars, and then they were twisting back down again and aiming for the balcony the royal family stood.

Yunho swiftly turned to guard Changmin with his whole body, sword raised at the crows.

The birds shifted, condensing, until the figure of a woman appeared. Her features became more prominent, and then a woman was standing there, dark-haired, black-dressed, eyes sharp and stature small. She was smiling.

Changmin stepped around Yunho. “Lady Boa, I presume?”

“You presume correctly,” she said. “I apologise for the entrance, but I feel inadequate when those meant to greet me are not on the ground to do so.”

Changmin was smirking. “Oh? No offence intended My Lady, but you are far too short for us speak as equals on even ground. Perhaps for the feast tonight I can have one of my servants provide you with a stool for you to stand on.”

Lady Boa stared at him, then laughed with incredulity. Yunho had not moved. She glanced at the point of Yunho’s sword before focusing back on Changmin, as if weighing which could cut her more. “Despite your intentions, Your Highness, it appears that I have taken offence.”

There was a yell at the gate. It was the announcement of the next party.

“I have taken your offence into account,” said Changmin; “and in doing so, have learnt my lesson about greeting others on even ground. Stand down,” he added to Yunho, who sheathed his sword immediately and stepped away. “We are going to the courtyard.” He turned to Lady Boa once again and said, “My mother the queen and my sisters are waiting for you to greet them.”

He moved past Lady Boa and down the stone steps to the courtyard, Yunho following close behind. The Harbin procession was coming through – women marching like soldiers, all seeming of equal power with no women on horses or carriages to make them higher than the rest. Though there was something unique about each one, they seemed also of equal beauty. There was excitement from the crowd, and some restlessness among the knights.

Lady Boa came down the steps, dark knight in tow, and stood at Changmin’s side. “I wanted to teach you a lesson,” she told him, “but I did not mean for you treat my competitors better than you had treated myself.”

Changmin smirked. “Jealous already Lady Boa? Do not worry yourself; the procession is from Harbin, and they did not travel all this way to ask for my hand in marriage.”

“Oh yes,” she agreed, “I am well aware of Harbin citizens’ pilgrimage of breeding.”

“’Pilgrimage of breeding’?” Changmin laughed. “Perhaps censor yourself next time.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I was censoring myself.”

“Interesting customs they must have on Kirin Island,” Changmin quipped.

“Indeed. We in the south are not as those in d’Ys,” she said. “Neither with our words, nor our flirting.”

Yunho’s grip tightened on his sword. He knew that under his gauntlets his knuckles would be white. He held his breath.

Prince Changmin looked at her side-along, smile absent. “We are not flirting,” he told her. He turned back to Harbin’s parade.

Lady Boa was smirking. “We are.”

Suddenly the edge of the crowd of citizens were frame by ice shooting through. It was close enough to scare everyone but not to hurt them, and after the gasps and screams died down the crowd laughed breathlessly and applauded the fantastic show of Harbin’s elementary power.

Ice crept into the square, hard and thick, over the cobblestones, making them steamy and shiny. Then the dozen beautiful women slid down the ice. They skated in perfect formation, beautiful in their flowing long dresses and hair.

The stopped before Changmin, Yunho and Lady Boa in the formation of a triangle, then kneeled. The leader looked up. “My name is Taeyeon, one of the nine High Priestesses or Harbin.”

“Please stand,” Changmin told her.

She smiled and stood, the other eleven women following her. “Thank you for inviting us to your great kingdom, Prince Changmin of Misra. May I introduce you to High Priestess Seohyun?” She gestured to the side in presentation, and the women moved to let a girl with long dark hair move forward to the front.

Changmin’s eyes widened and he cleared his throat. “I believe this is our first time meeting one another,” he said to Seohyun.

Seohyun bowed. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness.”

Changmin swallowed again, staring at her intensely, eyes drinking in the sight of her. He was tense, Yunho noticed as he looked at his prince, then back at the ethereal girl of Harbin.

The next procession was coming. “Yunho-hyung,” Changmin said lowly, “I’ll get you to clear a path through the ice.”

Summoning fire with both hands, Yunho stepped out into the square. A hush descended as he knelt down on one knee and used his inner elemental power to push fire out and across the courtyard. It tracked along the ice in two straight lines, melting it.

The Thunder Plains procession came through on horses and one horse-drawn carriage decorated in red, purple and gold. Yunho had no doubt the jewellery on the horses and on the knights and servants were real gold. 

Prince Changmin walked past Yunho to the carriage now stopped in the square. A servant pulled the curtain back and Changmin held out a hand for the princess within. A pale, dainty hand emerged and took it lightly, followed by the owner. She was beautiful; much like Changmin himself, she had wide brown eyes set in an almost cheeky face. Her hair was long and blonde and tumbled in large curls over her shoulders.

A servant put a velvet cushion on the ground and she kneeled on it, bowing low in the traditional position women of high birth would take.

Her voice was high and her Northern accent was strong. “Your Highness Prince Changmin of Misra, I am humbled by your invitation and am truly honoured to accept.”

In the brief glimpse of Changmin’s profile, Yunho saw that he was pleased with her. Something in Yunho’s heart cowered and died in the face of his burning jealousy.

Changmin held out a hand to her. “Please rise, Princess.” She took his hand and rose as gracefully as satin in the breeze.

Still standing to the side with High Priestess Taeyeon, Lady Boa no longer looked amused, her expression as dark as an oncoming storm. Yunho understood how she felt. Standing in the middle of the square surrounded by d’Ys residents, he saw himself as alone.

*

It was a grand feast held in the Great Hall. There were servants aplenty keeping the cups full of wine, cider and whatever else every royal, lord or lady desired. There was a lot of food, and when one plate was pulled away another was brought in, covered in meat or vegetables or a fusion of the two. A band in the corner was playing music, and there was room enough for folk dancing.

As much as he wanted to, Yunho did not participate. Instead he stood to the side and kept a watchful eye on his charge and the room’s goings-on, his duty to Prince Changmin’s safety paramount.

Changmin had been dancing with Taeyeon and then Seohyun, and now he danced with the elusive beauty that was Princess Victoria. They looked wonderful together, Yunho had to concede, like light dancing with darkness, the graceful movement of the dancing complimenting their lithe bodies. Princess Victoria turned and then stepped into his arms once again, his hand placed gently on her waist. They were like the centre of a dream, and everyone else was just the greyed out edges.

There was a light cough to his side. Yunho looked over and then down to see Lady Boa scrutinising him. “You’re just like my dark knight, Kai,” she told him. “Always quiet, always watchful. The two of you would get on well, I think.”

“Thank you for the tip, my lady, but I’m afraid I won’t have much time to pursue friendships while Her Majesty entertains guests.”

“You’re right of course. A pity.” She smiled. “I know it’s hardly tradition for a lady to ask a lord but – may I have this dance?”

“I shouldn't – “

“He’s fine,” she said, gesturing to the dance floor where Changmin was still dancing with the princess; “he’s not going anywhere.”

Yunho resigned himself and offered his hand then walked her to the dance area. He listened for the correct beat, then swept her into his arms and danced her in sync with the other guests, his movements precise, yet inside he thrilled at the chance to join in with the guests and the music. She kept up with him very well, her movements tight and well-practiced. Unlike Changmin and Princess Victoria, Yunho and Lady Boa were ill fit: one too tall and broad, and the other too short and small, and both dark-haired and plain-faced... but still Yunho liked to think they made a good dancing pair there on that floor.

“Is there a reason you’re dancing with me tonight, My Lady?” Yunho asked her.

He had not meant it as teasing, but rather as a straight-forward question, and it seemed she took it that way. “I want to be your friend,” she told him, glancing up at him briefly through her lashes.

“My friend?” asked Yunho, genuinely puzzled by this answer.

She twirled in his arms. “You must realise by now I need an ally in this place,” she said lowly. “The way some of the people here look at me...” She shuddered then, and lost her step, tripping over into his arms.

Gripping his biceps she stared up at him beseechingly, then told him breathlessly, “I want to be queen.”

“May I cut in?” another voice sounded, right near Yunho’s ear. It was Changmin.

“Of course,” said Yunho as he helped Lady Boa back onto her feet.

Lady Boa looked pleased. “It would be my pleasure – oh – hmm – “

Changmin turned his back on her and took Yunho into his arms and pulled them straight into the dance. Before he could even have time to feel embarrassed, Yunho concentrated hard on dancing the female part of the dance. But Changmin was a good leader and guided Yunho well around. They matched surprisingly well, Changmin a little taller than Yunho and elegant yet strong.

Once Yunho had gotten used to the dance steps, he looked up to see Changmin watching him, eyes half-lidded.

“You danced with Lady Boa,” murmured Changmin.

“Yes.”

“What did you learn?”

“She hides something, but puts on the pretence that she’s an open book. She puts forward the truth to hide deeper truth.”

“And what has she shown you so far?”

“Insecurity; she cares about that the court thinks of her. And she told me she wants to be queen.”

Changmin snorted and rolled his eyes. “Hardly a secret. She wouldn't be here if she didn't.”

“The court,” said Yunho. “They fear her as a witch, don’t they.”

Changmin grinned with half a mouth and closed his eyes. Yunho’s breath caught when Changmin dropped his head forward and leant his forehead against Yunho’s. Yunho leant into the touch, and then they were dancing slowly in the middle of the floor, heads bowed together. “No one trusts the descendant of Temple Wasteland.”

“Do you want me to help her?”

“I don’t want you to do anything but be by my side,” Changmin told him, voice rough.

Yunho bit his lip. “And Princess Victoria? What did you find out about her?”

Changmin frowned and looked to the side, narrowing his eyes. He seemed impatient with the conversation, suddenly. “I didn't find anything out. She’s an enigma, and the language barrier certainly doesn't help.”

They danced together until the song came to a slow, sweet end. Yunho and Changmin stood in the middle of the dance floor, hands pressed together. Forehead-to-forehead, palm-to-palm.

Yunho excused himself to leave the hall for the privy. On his way out he requested Kyuhyun keep an eye on Changmin for him.

He was hot in the face and felt stifled in the cotton and leather of his clothes as he strode rapidly down the stone corridor. Then he pushed the double doors open and took in great lungfuls of fresh, frigid cold hair.

He strode through the garden and to the field with no light but the moon and the castle windows to guide him. But he knew the grassy field was relatively flat, and the darkness was welcome. His head was full and yet it was fuzzy as if full of cotton wool.

There was a sense of panic overtaking him and making it hard to breathe. He stopped walking and put his hands over his nose and mouth and breathed harshly through the panic attack, eyes wide in the darkness as if he feared his own thoughts. He stumbled a little, and then let himself fall into a sprawled sitting position on the cold grass.

He let his panic attack overtake him. He wanted to feel it, he wanted to feel – he wanted to _know -_

Was he falling in love with Prince Changmin? Prince Changmin, heir to the throne of Misra, soon-to-be ruler of the Southern Continent? Prince Changmin of the Shim line, Water Elemental, a man of only one-and-twenty who would soon be married?

Was he falling in love? Or had he already fallen? Did he perhaps fall when Changmin tucked a flower behind Yunho’s ear, or earlier, when he saw the water dance to Changmin’s voice? Or perhaps even earlier, when he met the shy little prince seeking shelter in Gwangju, his small hands spreading to show his little water elemental trick.

The panic attack subsided and Yunho puffed out even breaths of warm air. He looked into the deep darkness, out into the field, into what seemed like nothingness. He wished for the guidance of the spirits of the Dreaming, then. His ancestors who watched over him would know what to do. But he had no magic to speak to the spirits of Dreaming, and the spirits wouldn't talk to him unless they initiated conversation.

But perhaps someone did hear his internal call, for out of the darkness a lone figure walked. It was a blur at first, something Yunho could not completely see, but then it became clear to Yunho it was a man in dark robes fluttering in the breeze. 

He walked closer and Yunho saw that the man’s hair was blonde and his face was delicate and familiar. Yunho could not believe what he was seeing.

“Luhan,” Yunho whispered.

Luhan stopped in front of Yunho and held out his hand to help Yunho up. He smiled kindly down at him. “Hello, Yunho.”

Yunho took his hand.

TBC


	10. Insidious Truth

“What are you doing here?” Yunho asked Luhan as they embraced. “I mean – are you here for Prince Changmin’s engagement?”

“Yes and no,” said Luhan enigmatically. He looked over at the castle. The candlelight shone bright through the Great Hall’s windows. “I was invited,” he explained, “but I never said I’d go. And now I’m late,” he added with a self-depreciating laugh and a shrug.

Despite the darkness, Yunho scrutinised him. Luhan was different this time, as if he had aged many years in their time apart. But it wasn’t so much that he looked older, but rather he seemed less innocent and naive, and more world-weary.

Yunho took Luhan’s hand. “Come to the party. The feast has ended, but we could have a drink together.”

Luhan’s hand was loose in Yunho’s. “As tempting as the offer is, I think it would be rude for me to arrive now,” said Luhan. He added with a flirtatious tone and a squeeze of his hand. “Why don’t you... come with me? I’m staying at The Thirsty Glider. We could have a late night drink, and then a late night sleep?”

“I – “ said Yunho as Luhan took his hand and dragged him across the field and away from the castle. Yunho felt reluctance in the wake of his earlier revelation and didn’t let himself get dragged very far. “Luhan,” he called softly, stopping them.

Luhan turned to him, smile fading. “Don’t you want to?”

“It’s not that,” Yunho said. Of course a part of him wanted to crawl between Luhan’s legs and let nostalgia remind him of their shared time on the Para Isles. But that part of him was not strong enough. “I’m Prince Changmin’s dark knight now, and I have a duty to him. I’m supposed to be guarding him right now, in fact.”

They let go of each other’s hands. “I’d heard. Surely you can take some time out, just for one night? With me? I miss you, Yunho.”

“I can’t,” Yunho told him kindly, “not tonight. There are so many people surrounding the prince that I don’t trust.”

Luhan looked at him unblinkingly. He wasn’t smile anymore. But he said, “I understand, your duty is important to you. You always were an honourable man, even if the laws that bind you are full of corruption.” He smiled. “You know where to find me should you change your mind.”

When Luhan had disappeared into the night, Yunho stood and stared across the field at the castle. After a moment, he strolled back.

*

Much later that evening, Changmin sat on his bed in his night clothes and robe, while Princesses Sooyeon and Jiyeon, and High Priestess Seohyun, sat on dining chairs. Yunho stood near the door.

“I’m sick of this conversation already,” Changmin was saying. “No matter whom I choose to marry, no one will be satisfied.”

“Marry Princess Victoria,” said Jiyeon, “because she’s the prettiest. Simple.”

“Prettiness is subjective,” Sooyeon drawled. She asked Changmin, “Do you know if they even _want_ to marry you? Don’t choose the one who was pressured into this by their family but really wants to run away and become a priestess. She’ll only make your life harder, especially in the beginning.”

“Hard to say,” said Changmin, “though Lady Boa told Sir Yunho that she wants to be queen.”

All three girls looked up at Yunho as if just noticing he was in the room. “A woman with ambition,” murmured Sooyeon, looking away. “I like the sound of her. Marry her at once!”

“Or,” Seohyun piped up, “don’t get married at all and sire many heirs by way of my people.”

Yunho was unsure as to why Seohyun was even here. Changmin sighed. “If only, but unfortunately I have a duty to my family and my people to choose a future queen.”

“You do not need marriage to choose a queen or sire heirs to the throne, oppa," said Seohyun. "It is a man-made construct used to control whole societies and shackle women to men. No one is born engaged.”

Jiyeon looked confused. She said to Changmin, “Lady Boa is a witch. You saw her magic – all black magic and...” She trailed off with a shiver.

“But Princess Victoria is an elemental,” Sooyeon argued, “and hers and Changmin-oppa’s children would be double-elementals.”

“What’s wrong with that?” said Soohyun. “I’m a double-elemental.”

“Your elements are water and ice. That’s a lot different to the joining of water and lightning.”

Changmin stood up. “I’ll think about it more tomorrow. It is now far too late in the evening for any of us to still be up.”

Changmin shooed them out of the room and Yunho went to his little side room to get changed into a long nightshirt. When he went back into the room proper, Changmin was already in bed. The prince turned the blankets down. “Come join me, hyung, and we can talk more.”

Yunho was amused, but he slowly came over and crawled into the large bed. “I thought you said it was too late in the evening for us to be up?”

Changmin made a face. “I was just sick of listening to those three argue back and forth.”

“May I ask a question?”

Changmin settled down more and rested his head on Yunho shoulder. “Of course, hyung.”

“Why was Seohyun here? I thought you’d only met her for the first time today.”

“Oh that, yes...” Changmin yawned, eyelids fluttering with tiredness. “She’s my sister.”

Yunho tensed in surprise.

Changmin must have felt it because he continued to explain. “It’s not unknown that women of Harbin often seek out royal blood while on their pilgrimage. Soohyun is my father’s bastard. I have a brother as well.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He’s in the north with Father. He’s younger than I am, not that he would be able to take the throne even if he were older, not without the strict permission of the king... That’s why I was wondering my Mother invited the priestesses of Harbin here, when she knew that Father had... _been_ with other women.”

“I think,” said Yunho, “that she must have put her feelings aside for the good of the family. She knows that there’s a chance you will sire a son or two while the Harbin citizens are staying in d’Ys.”

“What is the point, though, when bastard children are not considered heirs to the throne?”

“It sounds as though, if the royal family is in dire need of an heir, that there will always be spares.”

A pause, and then Changmin said, “That’s awful. You make it sound like Misra and Harbin are just using each other.”

“Aren’t they?” said Yunho. “Your ancestors and mine came to an agreement when Duidain was trying to push its forces west.”

Changmin abruptly sat up and looked him, eyes wide and imploring. “Do you regret it? You being here is the result of Misra ruling over Hamsa.”

Yunho gave him a soft look. “You know I don’t. Now go to sleep, Changmin, it’s late.”

Changmin laid down. “Will you stay? Before I have to lie next to my wife for the rest of my life, it would be nice to lie down with a friend. Like when Kyuhyun and I were children.”

“Of course,” Yunho said, lying down also. Changmin turned his back to Yunho and hugged a pillow. Yunho stayed close, even when Changmin put his cold feet on Yunho’s shins.

Yunho waited, and listened carefully for Changmin’s breath even out. When it did, Yunho leaned over Changmin and tucked a dark lock of hair behind his ear. The moonlight came through the window and highlighted his features.

Yunho put one arm around the prince, tucked himself against his back, and slept.

*

A pain so hard and sharp woke Yunho up with a shout. His arm throbbed with the pain to the point that it was almost numb, as if the last thing his body wanted to do was move it.

Changmin squirmed under him. “Are you alright? Are you – Oh gods, Yunho - !”

There was a dagger sticking out of Yunho’s left bicep.

Yunho looked at the window and saw that it was only partly open, but he was sure it had been shut before he fell asleep. He tried to gather his wits by isolating his arm and therefore the pain from his mind. It worked. He slid his other arm under Changmin and pulled him across the sheets just as another dagger slowly flew through the window.

Yunho and Changmin stared as they carefully got up from the bed, the dagger just floating on air and over to the bed. It hung for a moment over the spot they’d just been sleeping in, and then dropped, hard, embedding itself in the sheets.

Yunho pressed his forehead to the side of Changmin’s head. “A telekinesis elemental,” Yunho whispered in his ear. “Whoever it is can’t see us, but they may be able to hear us. Come.” Yunho dragged him backwards and over to where his own pallet was laid out, unslept in. Yunho’s back pressed against the wall, and with a push to one shoulder, Yunho urged Changmin to lower himself to the floor, before sliding himself down to find his sword under his pallet. Then he crept along the edges of the room, half-hiding himself along the side of the wardrobe.

The window opened itself.

Then a large three-pronged hook flew through, falling to the floor in the middle of the room, before the rope attached to it pulled, dragging it along the ground until it caught itself on Changmin’s desk. The wooden desk, caught by the hook, shrieked against stone as it was pulled tight against the chair and wall below the window. A moment as it held fast – and then someone pulled themselves through the window.

A person dressed all in black came through, gracefully hopping over the sill, light and noiseless. It wasn’t Jonghyun this time however, as Yunho recognised the attire of the warriors of the northern isle of Para.

Yunho stepped out of his hiding place. “Halt!” he said as the assassin tensed, ready to strike. “Why is an elemental priest of the Para Isles trying to assassinate His Highness Prince Changmin of Misra? Did someone from the Northern Continent hire you?”

“No one hired me,” the assassin said gruffly, voice muffled by the material he wore to hide his nose and mouth. “I came of my own volition. Where is the southern prince!”

“No longer in this room,” Yunho lied.

The assassin narrowed his eyes, then with a flick of his fingers the dagger was yanked out of Yunho’s arm and blood splattered onto the floor. “Hyung!” Changmin yelled, standing from his hiding position beside the bed, and then the assassin threw his dagger at Changmin – 

Changmin dodged then threw his hands out, countering with a tunnel of water so strong the assassin was pushed back into the desk, hard. Meanwhile, Yunho had quickly ripped his sleeve and was tying a makeshift bandage around his arm to stem the bleeding. Then he pulled his sword from its sheath and advanced on the assassin, who got his bearings and back-flipped out the window.

Yunho turned and grabbed Changmin. “Run. Go somewhere safe but stay in the castle. Find the guards make them stay with you.”

“What about you? Where are you going?” said Changmin as Yunho pulled away and headed for the window. “I want you to stay with me!”

Yunho hopped onto the window sill. “You won’t be safe until that assassin is dead.” He grabbed the rope and wrapped it around his good arm, then with his feet braced on stone, ran down the side of the wall until he reached the gardens below. 

The assassin threw three razor-sharp stars at Yunho, who dodged two and deflected one with his sword. The assassin then elegantly gestured, and then flower pots were lifting themselves from the edge of the garden. They were thrown at Yunho, but again Yunho deflect and counted with fireballs, which the assassin dodged by flipping backwards and then ending in a low defensive stance. The trees behind him all lit up in flames.

“Yunho-hyung!” Changmin had come out, Jonghyun by his side. From the other side people were filtering from the guest tower, including Lady Boa and Princess Victoria, mouths agape in surprise. 

Jonghyun threw a knife at the assassin, but the assassin used his power to deflect it onto Changmin, who dodged just in time. The knife hit the castle wall.

“STOP!” Yunho yelled, and summoned great bouts of fire to burn in lines on either side. The fire shot out of his hands and curved, creating a perimeter of flames around the assassin. The bush in front of Yunho caught on fire, but heedless he walked through it, the flames licking his bare legs with heat. He did not burn. He stalked his prey.

The assassin straightened into an almost lazy version of a standing defensive stance. “You know water elementals can just douse that fire if they wanted to,” he said.

“I won’t let you hurt my prince,” Yunho told him. He looked to his side and saw Changmin standing there, watching beyond the flames, and knew that he would not be able to hear their conversation. “Why are you doing this?” he said to the assassin. “Are you planning to start a war?”

The assassin’s kohl-lined eyes turned vicious. “I’m trying to _prevent_ a war!” And with that he threw more objects at Yunho, but Yunho deflect them with his sword, dodged others, then slid under the onslaught and got into close range – 

His sword burst into flame and he attacked the assassin head-on, who parried and countered with a katana unsheathed from his back. They fought each other with swords for a moment, until Yunho’s sword came too close to the assassin’s face and the material covering his mouth and nose caught on fire. The assassin ripped it off and threw it to the ground...

“Luhan!” Yunho gasped.

Breathing harshly, Luhan kept his katana raised in Yunho’s direction. They stared at one another. Yunho wanted to ask why again, but he had so many times now, it almost felt pointless.

After a moment, Luhan lowered his katana a little, seeming exhausted. “I can see why you like him,” he quipped. “Prince Changmin, I mean.” He gave Yunho a sad smile. “Despite his reputation he’s prettier than I thought he’d be. You like them pretty, don’t you, Yunho?”

“Luhan... I am Prince Changmin’s dark knight and despite our history I can’t... I can’t let you hurt him. There must be a way I can convince you not to take this path you’ve chosen.”

Luhan lowered his sword further. “Then perhaps there’s still hope. I know you’re a good person, so listen to me, Yunho. Water, as an element, is destructive and insidious. It moves soil, erodes rock, drowns people, douses fire – “

This was not what Yunho expected to hear. He lowered his own sword to his side. “Luhan, what are you talking about – “

“Leave him. Leave this destructive prince of water behind. Came back to the isles with me, or go home to Hamsa where you belong, but do not stay by his side!”

“I made a vow!” said Yunho. “I pledged myself to him!”

Luhan hissed. “You Southerners and your traditions! You send hundreds of men to die at war instead of sending one assassin, and you chain your lives to others just with mere words!”

“That is the honourable way, and my word is my livelihood. To break my word would mean I’d become useless as a knight – “

“Yunho, please. La Cuidad Blanca has been studying the generations of royalty for thousands of years. With the knowledge and information gathered and passed down, we, the elemental priests of the Para Isles, are able to calculate the personalities of certain people born in certain years with statistical certainty.”

Yunho could not comprehend this. “What has that got to do with assassinating Prince Changmin?”

Luhan looked at him imploringly. “He’s a tyrant, Yunho. The high priests of La Cuidad Blanca have known for a very long time.”

Yunho stared, frozen. His world got very small all of a sudden, shrinking in on itself until all that was left was this moment. With one last denial he whispered, “No he isn’t.”

“Yes he is. He will bring war on my people and his own. I have to prevent war between the continents, you know that war would wipe out the Para Isles.”

“They knew, even back then," Yunho whispered half to himself. "La Cuidad Blanca weren’t after King Dongsik back in Gwangju ten years ago, they were after Prince Changmin. They wanted to kill him – a _child!_ ”

“Kill one child,” explained Luhan, “save hundreds of children.”

Yunho, still thinking, grasped on a thread of hope. “But why now? It’s been ten years. If they knew all this time...”

“Through further study the high priests realised that the prince would not become a warmonger until he experiences a traumatic event.”

“That doesn’t explain – “

“Doesn’t it?” Luhan’s expression became indecipherable. “You will find out soon enough.”

Yunho stepped forward and cupped Luhan’s face, his arm shaking with the effort due to his injury. “I believe you,” he said.

Luhan visibly relaxed and leaned into Yunho’s touch. “I’m so happy to hear that. So will you help me?”

Yunho thumbed the hilt of his sword. He leaned forward and touched his mouth to Luhan’s ear. “I’m in love with Prince Changmin,” he whispered.

“No - !”

Yunho pulled back and rammed his sword between Luhan’s ribs and into his heart. When he pulled his sword out, blood gushed out and splattered onto the garden bed like red wind out of a barrel. Luhan fell forward and with his final ounce of strength gripped Yunho’s arms and stared up at him with wide eyes. And then he was dead on the ground, crumpled and small.

A pause and then...

Yunho heard the hiss of flames die as water doused them, and then Changmin was running over, and then he was hugging Yunho’s back, face pressed against the back of his head. He was whispering something over and over into Yunho’s hair.

Yunho felt exhausted. “Pardon, Your Highness?”

Changmin pulled back and hit Yunho’s good arm. “You bastard, how could you!”

Yunho turned to face him, a little unsteady on his feet. “Why, did you want to torture him? He gave me all the information before he died.”

Changmin’s eyes flared with anger. “I don’t care about him! You idiot, you could have gotten hurt, taking on an assassin all on your own like that. And injured no less! Do you not care about yourself, do you not care about _me?_ ”

Yunho gave him a soft look, heart filling with love. “Of course I care about you.”

Changmin hugged him again. “Then don’t leave me.”

Yunho held him back. “Never.”

Someone else was near, dousing the flames. Seohyun. Some distance away, beyond a garden of tulips, people were arguing.

“Do you see what inviting Northerners brings?” Lady Boa was telling the milling crowd, pointing at Princess Victoria. “That assassin was an ally of yours.”

“No he wasn’t!” said the princess, trembling. “It’s witches who bring bad luck to whole kingdoms.”

Yunho stepped away from Changmin’s embrace. “The assassin was from the Para Isles,” he told them loudly, coming over.

Lady Boa lifted her chin. “A known ally of the Thunder Plains.”

“Lady Boa, please, you are not helping. I know why he came to d’Ys and it had nothing to do with the Thunder Plains.” He gesticulated, herding the lingering castle guests back to the tower. “Everyone back to bed please; it will be dawn in only a couple of hours.”

TBC


	11. Rose Tinted

The light persisted in waking Yunho the next morning. He stirred, and felt Changmin stir beside him. When he opened his eyes, Changmin had sat up in bed. The sunlight from the window made his outline glow. He looked soft and warm, and yet his expression was cold.

“I’ve been thinking,” Changmin said quietly, not looking at Yunho.

Yunho leaned up on his elbows. “Oh?”

“That man last night who tried to kill me... you knew him, didn’t you.”

Yunho exhaled and sat up too. “His name was Luhan, and I suspect he was Priest Xi’s son. And he was my sleeping dictionary back on the Isles. So yes, I knew him.”

Changmin tilted his face up to the canopy and blinked several times. His mouth twisted in thought. Then he said, “I can’t have you seeing anyone else.”

Yunho looked at him in alarm. “...Changmin?”

“The last two men you slept with have caused problems for my household.”

“They’re the _only_ men I’ve slept with.”

Changmin looked at him with dead eyes. “Proves my point then, doesn’t it, hyung.”

Yunho felt tense. “I thought you said you didn’t send Taemin away because of me.”

Changmin levelled him a hard look. There was incredulousness in that stare, as well as a little pity and some guilt. Yunho looked away first.

“You want me to cease having a private life altogether?” he asked.

“I want you to stop letting your cock rule your life,” said Changmin, jaw set. “Do you not understand what this looks like? Your ex lover came all the way here from his home land to kill me.”

Yunho huffed. “So it – what? Looks like some kind of bitter love triangle?”

Changmin’s eyes were alight with anger. “No, it looks like you conspired against me!”

Yunho was speechless. “I would never... you know I would never do that! I _killed_ him! For you!”

“That only makes it look like you arranged it so I would trust you more,” explained Changmin. “So you could get closer to me.”

“By the gods, Changmin, look at us! We couldn’t get any closer if we tried; we’re in the same bed for fuck’s sake!”

They stared at each other. Then, faces hot, they both got out of bed. Yunho went to his little corner to find his clothes to change. He pulled off his long nightshirt, not caring that Changmin saw him naked, and shucked on his light leathers.

It was a strange feeling to be mad at Changmin, especially as, deep down, Yunho agreed with him. Yunho’s cock _did_ seem to cause problems for others. But that wasn’t even it – it was the fact that Yunho didn’t want to see any more men, he only wanted Changmin. Love... love was a powerful thing.

After dressing, Yunho turned. Changmin had his trousers on, but his tunic was open, exposing his chest. He was fiddling with the strings with a pout. When he noticed Yunho watching, he blushed and ducked his head. “Minho usually does this for me. A little help, please, hyung?”

Yunho went over to him with a resigned air. He adjusted the strings and went to tie them. “Of course I will do as you say,” he told Changmin. “But it won’t stop me from mourning the death of my sex life.”

Changmin was watching him. He smiled fondly. “You should be waiting until after marriage at any rate.”

Yunho finished tying Changmin’s tunic and dropped his hands. “You know as well as I do I won’t be getting married.”

Changmin sighed and looked away. “Speaking of, I promised Princess Victoria a walk through the gardens after breakfast.”

Which is what they did, later in the day, the sun bright and the flowers blooming every colour Mother Nature in all her wisdom had imagined.

Changmin and Princess Victoria walked ahead, while Yunho walked with Sir Leeteuk and Princess Victoria’s dark night Sir Amber.

“It must be difficult for a hot-blooded man such as yourself to be near a princess so fair and so beautiful,” Leeteuk said to Amber.

Amber rolled her eyes. “I am a woman, Sir Leeteuk.”

Sir Leeteuk almost tripped over a pot plant. Amber turned to Yunho. “You don’t seem surprised,” she said to him.

“No offence,” he said, “but I thought it was obvious.”

She smiled at him. “And how is your arm, Sir Knight?”

Yunho rubbed his bicep where he knew that under his leather tunic there was a scar. “Perfectly fine, thank you. The castle physician is a healing elemental from the north, so he fixed me right up.”

“Is he?” said Amber, intrigued. “That is fortunate.”

Sir Kai emerged from behind a tree, taking Yunho by surprise. It was almost as if he had materialised from thin air, though he knew that would be impossible.

“Sirs,” said Kai, with a bow. “Pardon for the interruption, but Lady Boa of Kirin Island requests the presence of Sir Yunho of Hamsa in the rose garden.”

“ _Does_ she now?” said Amber, stepping forward to loom over and intimidate Kai. “And why would that be, hmm? To conspire against my princess?”

Yunho looked over Kai shoulder to see Changmin and Victoria down the path examining the sunflowers. “I’m afraid I can’t just leave my post,” Yunho told Kai. “I’m to stay with His Highness Prince Changmin at all times.”

Kai said, “Lady Boa tells me to assure you that it won’t take long.”

Sir Leeteuk put his hand on Yunho’s shoulder. “You best fulfil Lady Boa’s request. Do not worry, Yunho, I will keep a close eye on your prince while you’re gone.”

Yunho bowed. “Thank you, Leeteuk-hyung.”

Yunho followed Kai to the rose garden. “Sir Yunho,” called Boa. “I’m glad I could drag you away from your duties long enough for a little chat.”

Yunho stopped by her side. She was examining a red rose on a bush. “Do you know how to make a rose turn black?” she asked him conversationally. “First you pluck it – “ she broke off the stem with her fingernails “- then you put it in a box and place that box in the back of your cupboard. After you’ve wait two full moons, you pull the rose out...”

She curled her hand around the rose, and then when she pulled away, the rose was black.

She smiled up at him. “Voila! Your rose is black.” She passed it over. “For you.”

“I am flattered,” said Yunho, “but no thank you. I like my roses alive and colourful.”

“ _Do_ you?” said Lady Boa in amusement. “Curious. Roses only last their season before they wither and die – much like passionate love, don’t you think? I like dried flowers because they last a long, long time. Like a solid marriage.”

“My apologies, Lady Boa, but did you really invite me here to discuss roses?”

She tilted her head and looked at him thoughtfully. Then she sighed to herself, resigned. “I suppose not. I wanted to persuade you to vote for me tomorrow.”

“Ah,” said Yunho, nodding. Because Prince Changmin had failed to make a decision between marrying Lady Boa or Princess Victoria, Queen Myeongseong had asked the council members to vote on whom Changmin should marry and present their opinions to the prince in order to persuade him. “Lady Boa, I am a member of the council and have a right to vote but... whether I vote for you or Princess Victoria may not matter in the end... Prince Changmin will choose whomever he wants to marry. Even if the whole council votes for you, he may still choose a different bride.”

“I am aware of that,” she said. “That is not why I am asking you to vote for me.”

“Oh?” He frowned.

She walked around him, dragging her hand over his broad shoulders. “We are the same age, am I correct? Then let me speak in informal language with you, Yunho.” She leaned over and murmured in his ear, “I see the way Prince Changmin looks at you.”

Yunho’s stomach dropped. He swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? Let me put it this way: there is a high chance he will choose his bride based on your opinion.”

“So he values my opinion?” Yunho relaxed and looked at her.

She smirked. “He seems to value quite a bit of you.” She took on a serious look. “I told you last time that I wanted to be queen – but I didn’t tell you why. May I put forward my argument?” 

Yunho gestured for her to continue.

“I want children, Yunho. More than anything else in the world. And I want them to grow up with every opportunity in the world, with solid destinies, and a strong father. I don’t care much for romantic love; only the love shared between a mother and her children.

“I know you love him,” she said. “I know he loves you, too.”

Yunho exhaled shakily and gave her a long, wide-eyed look. “I am sorry, Boa, but you are mistaken. He does not love me, not like that. Like a brother, yes, but...”

She was smiling. “If you say so,” she said. “But know this, that I am willing to pay for your vote of confidence with my silence. When I marry Prince Changmin, you and he shall be together, if it please you. I will be your confidant and your secret keeper. All I ask, is that Prince Changmin give me children.”

“I won’t lie,” said Yunho. “When I first met you, I thought you wanted to be queen because you wanted power.”

“Only fools crave power for power’s sake,” said Boa.

He faced her square on and said sincerely, “I am sorry, Lady Boa, but I will vote for the candidate who best suits the role of queen.”

Something in her eyes hardened. “Oh?”

“Let me ask you something,” he said, “and please humour me. If Prince Changmin decided to take his army north and attack say, the Thunder Plains, what would you do?”

She scrutinised him, trying to find clues in his face. He kept himself impassive and calm. “Well,” she said eventually, “as I would be his wife and his queen, I would support him in his endeavours.”

Yunho nodded slowly. Then he stepped back and bowed. “Thank you for your time, Lady Boa. I must get back to Prince Changmin, now.” He made to step away from her – 

“Wait!” she said. “Who will you vote for at tomorrow’s meeting?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I will choose whoever is best for the good of the continent.”

Her smirk came back, but it was humourless this time. “You are a very honourable man, Sir Yunho. Honourable, and self-sacrificing. Clearly, I’ve been speaking to the wrong person all this time.”

*

It would be improper to go to Princess Victoria’s rooms, so he tried to catch her as she was leaving for dinner. She had her dark knight Sir Amber and a handmaiden with her, but still he asked her the same question he’d asked Boa.

She stared at him much like Boa had, as if trying to gauge his intentions.

“I’m going to give you my honest answer,” she said eventually. Her voice was strong.

“That is all I ask,” he said.

“If he tried to go to war with the north I would argue against him every step of the way,” she said. “I understand defending one’s lands against intruders or arguing with one’s neighbours, but for the two continents to go to war would cause chaos. Both the north and the south continents are too strong and too large to go to war with one another.

“I know many would assume I argue against war because I’m from the Thunder Plains and so do not wish to see my family’s lands destroyed and while that is true, I am also aware that that is not the big picture. I know it’s not a popular opinion in the south but... war is not the only way.”

He left her and went to find Changmin. He found him with Lady Boa in the middle of an open stone walkway. He was smiling down at her.

“We were just talking about you,” said Changmin as Yunho approached.

“I shall take my leave, Prince Changmin,” said Lady Boa, bowing and moving away and down the walkway, Sir Kai following close behind.

Changmin grabbed Yunho’s wrist and together they walked leisurely, looking through the stone arches at the gardens below.

“I’ve decided to take Lady Boa as my wife,” Changmin told him eventually, “but it’s almost evening and I can’t cancel tomorrow’s meeting. So I would like for you to support me in the meeting by voting for her.”

“Sire, I...” Yunho took a deep breath. “I would like to vote for Princess Victoria.”

Changmin stopped abruptly and turned and faced Yunho. “You – what? But Lady Boa... she told me, she told me she spoke to you today.”

His large, brown, beautiful eyes were staring into his imploringly. “She did speak with me, today, in the rose garden. But I spoke to Princess Victoria just now and... and I believe she would make a much better queen of Misra...”

Yunho trailed off because Changmin was no longer listening. He’d moved over to one of the arches to stare out at the gardens, sad-eyed, the fingers of one hand curled against the stone. He looked frightfully beautiful, his cheeks a little flushed, and his cloak trimmed with heavy Duidain desert-cat fur.

If Yunho could, he would take this young man into his arms and hold him tight, and kiss his hair, and tell him everything would be alright and all future decisions would be easy to make. But that would be a lie. All Yunho could do was try his best to prevent Changmin's death, and to try to secure his household and Changmin’s future in it.

“Never mind the lateness of the evening; I do not want to hold a council meeting tomorrow morning,” Changmin said eventually. “I’ve chosen to marry Lady Boa because she... she may have made me an offer I can’t refuse.”

Yunho stared at his profile. “What kind of offer?”

Changmin looked at him sadly. He didn’t answer the question, instead he said, “I’m not a good person, hyung. I’m... selfish, so selfish. And yet, I don’t think I care enough to change it.” He gave Yunho an ironic half smile.

“I think you’re good,” said Yunho honestly. “You do what you think is right, and that’s important. And you’re strong, and decisive.”

Changmin smiled properly and ducked his head. “You flatter me.”

“Oh yeah?” Yunho leaned against the arch and smirked. “I’ve yet to wax lyrical about your handsome looks.”

“Yah!” Changmin turned away completely, laughing. “Please don’t do that.”

“You see? A selfish prince would make his dark knight talk about his beautiful face all day long.”

Changmin turned abruptly and faced him. “Fine! Talk about me! Tell me how beautiful and handsome I am.”

Yunho laughed, suddenly shy. “Uh, well. Your eyes, they’re your best feature. They’re large and double-lidded, like a deer, or a girl. I... someone, someone could get lost in those eyes.”

Changmin had lost his amusement. He was nodding slightly, shoulders tense. “Thank you, hyung, that is nice of you to say.”

“You’re welcome...”

They stood, silence awkward, unable to look at one another.

TBC


	12. Drowning in the Waters of my Soul

A week later Changmin and Boa were married. All the lords and ladies of court attended, as well as the procession of women from Harbin. Princess Victoria and her entourage had left several days earlier, however.

Yunho wanted to stand up the back so he could sneak away early, or better yet – not attend the wedding at all. But he was there, at the front of the crowd that stood in neat rows.

Lady Boa stepped gracefully down the very long hall. In her high heels her steps were slow and careful; it would take forever for her to get to the altar. Eyes burning, Yunho stood, hands clasped in front of him, head held high though it took great effort.

Eventually she got to the altar and stepped up. Sir Ryeowook read the lines that would bind them together, and then Changmin was placing his fur-lined cloak over Boa’s shoulders to signify that he would protect her for the rest of their days.

Later, at the reception, Kyuhyun said, “Oh my, but you do look sad.”

“Just get me drunk,” Yunho rumbled, and drank messily from his cup of wine.

It was possibly the only night Yunho would have off for a while as there would be a whole group of keepers sleeping outside the prince’s door, listening for the tell-tale verbal signs of love-making. Yunho went with some knights to the tavern and the brothel next door.

Early the next morning Kyuhyun woke him. Hung over, Yunho struggled to lift himself from the pillow, as well as untangle himself from some male prostitute’s arms. “Oh shit,” he said gravely, “Prince Changmin told me not to sleep with any more people.”

Kyuhyun gave him a wide-eyed look. “He said that? Wow. Do you remember this boy’s name?”

Yunho looked over at the sleeping lad. “No.”

“Then it doesn’t count, does it? Come on, we have to get back to the castle post-haste before Sir Leeteuk notices we’re late for work.”

Together they struggled to dress as they ran up the dirt track and to the gate that led to the inner town. An old woman who was sweeping her front step glared hard at Yunho as he hopped and half-tripped himself into his trousers. He didn’t manage to get his tunic and leather jacket on until he was at the castle gates.

“Sir Yunho!” Lady Boa called as he ran through the gardens to access the servants’ staircase. He stopped reluctantly, took a deep breath, and turned.

She looked like her normal self, though what evidence of her sex life he thought he’d see he didn’t know. She was with Priestesses Taeyeon and Yoona.

Yunho went over to them and they all bowed. “Have you slept with one of our Ladies of Harbin yet, Sir Yunho?” asked Priestess Taeyeon. Priestess Yoona tilted her head and gave Yunho a flirtatious look, which he ignored.

“No, My Lady. My proclivities lean toward my own sex.”

“A shame. The offer is always there if you ever change your mind.”

“Thank you,” said Yunho.

“Sir Yunho,” said Lady Boa quickly, “I meant what I said. I want us to be friends.”

Yunho exhaled, speechless. “Thank you,” he stammered.

*

Although Changmin kept to his room, he was made to spend his nights in one of the even grander rooms of the castle with his new wife. Yunho stayed in Changmin’s room in his little bed, alone. During the days, Yunho guarded Changmin as he had always meant to have done: quiet and stoic in the background of Changmin’s life.

A week passed.

Then one early evening, shortly after dinner, Yunho received an unexpected summons.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Yunho as Ryeowook held the torch aloft and lead Yunho through a series of passages. Yunho was aware of coming into the queen’s wing of the castle now, and felt uneasy.

“You’ll see soon enough,” was Ryeowook’s frustratingly uninformative answer.

Yunho was taken to Queen Myeongseong’s private chambers. Yunho tried not to seem too nervous or look too hard at the large room’s interior as he stood in front of the queen in her nightdress and dressing gown. Ryeowook shut the door and then stood barring it. Yunho, after a frozen pause, got on his knees and bowed low, nose almost touching the floor.

“Please rise,” said the queen. No longer on the throne she seemed small, old and tired, but not unkind. Yunho stood to attention. “At ease, sir,” she said. “I won’t take up much of your time, but I do have a serious request of you, and it must not travel to anyone else’s ears. Only the occupants of this room, Changminnie, and Lady Boa will know of this plan. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Yunho said quietly, but with conviction.

“It has been a week since my son married,” she said. “However, he and his wife have yet to consummate the marriage.”

Yunho could not help but react to that, sucking in a sharp breath and widening his eyes. She was not lying.

She nodded slightly as if his surprise was understandable and relatable. “I understand that you have the _inclination_ , is that correct? Do not lie, I will know.”

Yunho felt tense and stiff. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And you have some sexual experience?”

Yunho blushed. Behind him, Ryeowook shuffled his feet. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You are my son’s dark knight and I can trust no one else in this. Tonight, I want you to warm Changminnie’s bed and instruct him in the art of lovemaking. That way, when he next goes to his wife, he will have confidence to perform his duty to the throne.” Her gaze was resolute. “I need him to give me grandchildren and I need him to do it soon.”

Yunho was shaking. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Sir Ryeowook will take you to the royal bathhouse where you will wash quickly and thoroughly. After that, you must go to my son and do what I have asked.”

Yunho could not argue. He bowed low. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

*

Although it was not on his general list of duties to perform, Ryeowook helped scrub Yunho down, washing under his arms and tipping a bucket of hot water over his head. Then he helped him dress in robes of silk that, despite the long flow of the sleeves, was tightened around his chest and waist to accentuate his masculine figure.

The knight led him to Changmin’s chambers. “I’m sure it won’t be a hardship for you,” said Ryeowook, finally breaking the long silence, “but good luck anyway.”

“My thanks,” said Yunho quietly, hardly noticing as Ryeowook left him at Changmin’s door. Then Yunho was opening the door, stepping through, and closing it behind him.

The bed was as it always was, the desk was neat, the fire ablaze. And then there was a knife pressed to Yunho’s throat.

They froze.

Changmin pressed the knife firmer and glared at Yunho harder, breathing harshly through his nose. Despite the sharpness of the blade Yunho did not move. If Changmin wanted to kill him, so be it; Yunho could not turn back on his queen’s orders, and if he died doing his duty as well as trying to get into his prince’s pants, then at least he wasn’t a coward.

Changmin’s gaze was practically on fire. “I understand,” Yunho said as placating as he could, which failed because Changmin let out an almost-whimper, causing the blade to move. Yunho flinched. “You don’t want to do this, I realise that. I know that you are doing it because your mother has asked you to.”

“You know nothing,” Changmin whispered with a snarl.

“I won’t hurt you, but if you’re... if you’re afraid, we can pretend. We can stay together as we used to and tell the queen – “

“You will do as she says!” Changmin snapped. “You will do your duty to the fullest of your ability, and as much as you hate it you will not complain.”

“Ok. Ok, Changmin.” Yunho wrapped his fingers around Changmin’s wrist, gently tugging so the blade would leave his neck. “First lesson,” Yunho said, “no blades of any kind. Most people don’t approve of their use in the bedroom.”

Changmin exhaled shakily and let Yunho pull his arm away, and then the dagger from his seemingly stiff fingers. He placed the blade on the table and folded Changmin’s hand in both of his, rubbing gently to try to relax him.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, the candle light flickering. Changmin’s cheeks flushed, and he looked away. “Get on the bed,” Changmin commanded.

Yunho looked at the bed, at its soft and inviting blankets and furs. Then he pulled away from Changmin and sat at the foot of it.

Changmin hesitated, breathing deeply, before moving over to Yunho, pulling up his robes a little, then straddling Yunho’s hips and sitting on his thighs. With shaking hands, Changmin loosened his own sash and pulled down the collar of his robes, exposing his throat, chest and shoulders. His chest moved with his breaths. Then he moved rapidly to Yunho’s clothes, loosening the knot impatiently as if he wanted to get it over and done with.

Yunho stopped him with hands on his wrists. “Don’t go fast. The best way is to go slow; it will get your wife in the mood and she will enjoy it more.” 

Changmin’s lips were wet and quivering, his eyes darting to Yunho’s and away again, as if he wanted to say something but was too embarrassed. He slowed his movements, and as he did, Yunho cupped face with one hand, looked at those lips, and leaned up to kiss Changmin softly.

Changmin made a small, desperate noise in the back of his throat as Yunho kissed his lips closed mouthed but with no less meaning behind it. He moved this mouth, dragging his lips across Changmin’s.

Yunho pulled away, leaned back on his hands and dragged himself up the bed so he could lay back on it properly. Changmin lifted his hips and let him, then crawled up to brace himself over Yunho’s body again.

“When you have her like this,” Yunho told Changmin softly, “gently spread her legs open and lie between them.”

Changmin took his instruction. Bracing himself with one hand on the bed beside Yunho’s head, Changmin finished undoing Yunho’s sash and robes and let them fall open. After Changmin’s gaze flickered over Yunho’s body, he leaned up on his knees, pressed his palms to Yunho’s knees and spread his bent legs open. He ran his palms down Yunho’s inner thighs. Changmin seemed to be gaining confidence now that Yunho was naked and open for him. As he slid up Yunho’s body once more, lips parted and bangs in his eyes, Yunho slid Changmin’s robe further down his back and arms, exposing more skin. 

Carefully, Changmin leaned down and kissed Yunho, mouths open this time, breaths getting caught in throats. Yunho achieved a little flicker of his tongue against Changmin’s bottom lip. He coaxed Changmin’s body to lie on top of him and to allow Changmin’s weight to press him down. With a firm grip on Changmin’s hips he got Changmin to move against him.

“You can go slow,” Yunho told him, lips dragging against Changmin’s with every word he spoke. “Your wife will appreciate it, and it should eventually lead her to orgasm, which will increase the chances of her conceiving – “

Changmin pulled away a little. “Would you please stop talking about her? She is not in this room. There is _no one_ in this room except me and you.” Hands shaking, Changmin took Yunho’s hands and pressed them into the pillows, linking their fingers.

Changmin’s robe had mostly slid off his body now, and their sex were pressing and rubbing together. It wasn’t long before changmin’s breath was coming out in quiet, agonised little puffs, and it was all Yunho could do not grunt into Changmin’s mouth. Eyes tightly shut, Yunho crept one hand down and slid it between their bodies to finger and palm Changmin’s erection. Changmin gasped loudly, pulling his mouth away from Yunho’s and arching his back. His mouth was open, inhaling loudly, eyes rolling back, neck exposed to Yunho’s eyes. Yunho clenched his thighs, tugged on Changmin’s cock, and then Changmin was coming with a loud series of moans.

Changmin collapsed onto Yunho’s chest and buried his face into Yunho’s neck. Yunho held him close, rubbing his hands up his back and arms and over his shoulder blades. When Changmin’s breath started to slow, Yunho moved to put him on his side.

“Wait,” said Changmin breathlessly, “don’t let me sleep.”

Yunho affectionately smoothed Changmin’s locks from his brow. He’d been sweating. He didn’t know how to respond to that, but Yunho knew that he himself would not be sleeping. If Changmin fell asleep, Yunho would not wake him.

Changmin’s eyelids were heavy and fluttering. “Don’t let me sleep, hyung, please.” He was struggling against the pull of the night. “I want you... I want you to make love to me like you would make love to a woman.”

Yunho stared at the prince in his arms. Changmin’s eyes were finally closed, eyelashes fanned against his soft cheeks. Yunho petted his hair, then moved his hand down over Changmin’s back and to the satin of his robe. He tugged at it to get it off, jostling Changmin slightly, until it was off Changmin and away. With a kiss to the corner of Changmin’s slack mouth, Yunho smooth his hand over Changmin’s flank and hip, and then tucked his hand under one thigh and pulled it up over his own hip. With the access this movement created, he pressed two fingers over the curve of one of Changmin’s buttocks and pressed gently against his hole. Changmin shivered with an inhale, eyes opening a little. Yunho took it as encouragement and massaged the tight muscle, pressing in tight circles.

“At any time,” Yunho said, “tell me to stop.”

“I would never tell you to stop,” Changmin told him. “If I could control every aspect of the world, I would make sure you wouldn’t stop at all.”

They looked into each other’s eyes. And then Yunho moved away and off the bed to the beauty table where the oils were stored. He considered choosing the shea oil but instead chose a non-perfumed one for Changmin’s comfort. 

After crawling back on the bed he took Changmin’s loose form in his arms and held him close, burying his nose in Changmin’s neck and breathing in the warm, clean, sleepy scent of him. Changmin lifted one hand and caressed Yunho’s cheek.

“Are you sure?” Yunho asked him quietly.

“Very, very sure,” Changmin said.

Behind Changmin’s back Yunho pulled the cork from the oil jar then dipped in one finger. After a caress of Changmin’s flank, he used one hand to spread Changmin’s cheeks and then touch his hole with the oiled finger. Changmin inhaled sharply, chest brushing Yunho’s, eyes widening as Yunho pushed in and breached the resistance with his finger.

Changmin leaned back a little to look into Yunho eyes. The movement caused him to sit further down on Yunho’s finger. Yunho felt inside Changmin and found him warm, soft, and tight. He pulled out a little until just the tip of his finger was still inside, and then he slowly pushed in again. The sphincter muscle tensed around him then convulsed as Changmin consciously tried to relax.

Unable to resist the sight of Changmin’s glistening red lips, Yunho kissed him. He started off soft, then tilted his head and slipped his tongue in to possess Changmin’s mouth just as he knew that later in the night he would possess Changmin’s body.

To say Yunho was turned on would be an understatement. He had not come from their rutting earlier, and fingering Changmin with the knowledge that he had his permission to make love to him was driving him mad with lust. He pulled out of Changmin briefly to get more oil on his fingers before finding Changmin’s hole and pushing in once again. He twisted his finger, and curled it, then fingered the rim with two fingers knowing that he had to get them in and stretch Changmin’s virgin hole more, to ready him.

He even thought about getting between Changmin’s legs and licking his hole open, dousing him with saliva and impaling him on his tongue. But then Changmin’s breaths started to become needy moans, and Yunho pushed two fingers into him. Changmin broke their kiss and leaned back. He would have fallen back on the bed if it wasn’t for Yunho holding him up. Changmin was limp-limbed, chin tilted back and neck exposed. Yunho kissed his pulse point and then scissored his fingers, causing Changmin to yip-moan, the utterance vibrating against Yunho’s lips.

“Take me,” Changmin whispered, barely audible. “Take me now and don’t let go.”

“It may hurt – “

“Do it anyway, for there is nothing more painful than being without you.” His chest heaved as he took a deep breath. “If it hurts I will still take it.”

It only took a second for Yunho to cover his body with Changmin’s, laying himself between the young man’s long legs. With one hand he caressed Changmin’s soft hair, and with the other he lined himself and pushed in, grinding his cock into Changmin’s hole. With a firm hand on Changmin’s hip, Yunho pushed in as far as he could go.

Changmin let out a deep, throaty moan as Yunho nosed his throat. Changmin’s ass was sucking Yunho’s cock right in, pulling him in deep. “You feel so good,” Yunho gasped. Then he said, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Changmin whispered. “Don’t ever be sorry for anything you do for me.” Yunho moved his hips, causing Changmin to inhale wetly, mouth agape. “Oh, oh... I can feel you inside me. Right there.” Yunho moved again. “There.” Again. “There, there, there...”

Yunho snuck his arm around Changmin’s waist and pulled him up for a thorough, open mouthed kiss.

“It feels so good,” Changmin gasped against his lips. “Why would you think this would hurt? It feels so good. You fit inside me. You fit.”

“I fit,” said Yunho, as he undulated his hips. Changmin’s moans got louder and they spurred Yunho on. He snapped his hips, fucking into Changmin’s willing body.

With a burst of light behind his eyes, Yunho came deep inside him, Changmin keening under him, scrapping his fingernails across Yunho’s shoulders and down his arms.

After, Yunho pulled out and ducked down, performing fellatio on Changmin in long, wet movements until Changmin came, shaking and sweating on the bed.

TBC


End file.
